That's What You Get for Playing with Fire
by Twizardck
Summary: One percent of the human population of Earth is mutant. And those mutants are shunned, hunted, hated. Of course my brothers and I would end up being part of that group... AU Hetalia. Rated for violence in later chapters and language.
1. Prologue

**That's What You Get {Playing With Fire}**

I.

"Run! Run, damn it!"

My feet picked up speed the instant my brother's warning shouted. Tripping over the pavement, gasping already from our earlier mad flight, I headed towards our rendezvous point. It was just a hundred feet away.

Footsteps sounded behind me and, listening closely, I could make out that they were his. My brother's, that is, not _his._ But I knew that our pursuer was close by, for otherwise my brother's call would not have sounded so panicked.

A shriek hit the air and I skidded to a halt. Ten feet away. My head turned and I saw that my brother was sprawled on the concrete, trying desperately to get to his feet. And there, right behind him, was the man we had been running from, a silent shadow detaching from its surroundings.

"Gilbert!" I screamed, retracing my steps.

His head snapped up, red eyes wide in horror. "No! Roderich, keep going!"

I blocked out the words, now launching myself towards the man, hands outstretched. I called on every ounce of willpower I had in my body and pushed outwards, palms facing the figure.

The night exploded in music, booming around us. The force of the sound knocked the man to the ground. I listened to Gilbert scramble up and continue running.

The man stood in a flash, his arms reaching for me. I tried to backpedal, but before I knew it harsh hands were pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled, screamed.

But it wasn't a scream for help. No, that was what he wanted. I was the lesser prize, and I knew it.

I called out, "Keep running! Don't come back!"

I knew that Gilbert would understand. I was caught. There wasn't any hope for me now.

The man dragged me away.

II.

There are three types of people in this world. There are the norms – the humans, the good, hardworking majority. The oblivious, sheep in a world of wolves, fine to be the underdogs and know nothing but the bare minimum. Then there are the mutties – the one percent of the population that is mutant. The special, the ones with powers. Also the hunted, the impure, the hated.

The final group are the creepers – the hunters of the mutties. They follow the mutants, put them in cages, experiment. All in the name of science and the desire to return the earth to the norms, who fear the mutties.

My parents were norms of the worst sort – my mother a druggie, my father a drunkard. Through all three of her pregnancies my mother used smack. They say that it does something, changes the fetus. All that is known is that mothers who drink or drug will end up with mutties for kids. But they didn't know that back in '96, when I was born. And while they did know that in 2000, the year of my younger brother's bringing into life, she didn't care.

The drink made my father dangerous. Well, he wasn't my father biologically, but he was the only one I have ever known. My two brothers were unlucky enough to be related to him truly, but I wasn't so cursed. Not that my story was any better. But at least the man didn't have any claim to me.

He found out that Gilbert, my older brother by ten months, and I were mutties right before Ludwig, the youngest, was born. And that was when the beatings began. Every day there were new bruises on our skin. We retaliated. We had the means to. It just made things worse.

Every night we prayed that Ludwig would be normal. But on his sixth birthday he lifted up the table and we knew that it wasn't so. We left that night and took him with us. Otherwise he too would be the victim of father's beatings.

Gilbert was eleven, I was ten, and we had a first-grader in tow. We hadn't known about the creepers.

We started seeing moving shadows everywhere. I noticed how they seemed to be watching us. Gilbert laughed at me, called me a pussy, nothing he hadn't done before. But I worried. I saw how they leaned in, excited, whenever Ludwig picked up a car. When I coaxed the music out of the air in soft lullabies they almost jumped on us. But they were the worst when Gilbert snapped his fingers and brought up the flame. Then I could almost feel them wanting to take us. But somehow I knew they had to watch longer.

Eventually Gilbert realized that I was right and we started to run. We've been years on the run now. I am fourteen. Our powers have grown and progressed. The creepers have gotten more and more hostile. And that was where you came in. When one of the creepers decided he had waited enough. And you know what happened.

It is how I ended up in my current situation, hands bound tightly behind my back, sitting in the back of the truck with my mouth gagged. My power is focused in my hands, as it is in both of my brothers. The creepers left me back there, defenseless and scared, while they drove who knows where. I only hoped that Gilbert made it to the rendezvous with Ludwig.

There was hardly any light back there, but my eyes had adjusted. I could feel my glasses resting on my nose, thankfully unbroken. I could see the door of the truck, faint light filtering in through the crack, taunting me. But I could do nothing. It would almost have been better if I was blind in the darkness.

We'd been running for so long. We weren't sure why, but there was an air of horror around the men, and we heard the whispers in the towns when people saw us. The whispers that said, "Don't worry, the creepers will get 'em soon. They'll be away then." They knew what kids without parents around meant. In this day and age, orphans and homeless children were given homes immediately. The runaways were only mutties.

And so we ran from every shadow, every hint of darkness, never staying in one place. And now I wasn't sure what to do, what to expect. Experimentation, cages, sometimes even extermination… All of this I had heard. It was not comforting.

I buried my head into my knees and muffled a sob. I would give anything to be a norm.

III.

Ludwig watched the door, fingers fidgeting with his shirt nervously. They should have been back by now with food, out of breath and irritable, but unharmed, as always. They should be cooking something over a fire that Gilbert created, arguing and shoving at each other in half-hearted attempts to make things appear normal.

Just as Ludwig was about to get up and go out looking - though they had said for him to stay put, since when did he listen to them? He was the most mature anyway - the door flew open. His breath caught, relieved, as Gilbert stumbled inside. But then confusion hit as his oldest brother slammed the door shut and fell against it, shaking.

Getting to his feet, Ludwig walked towards his eldest brother, blue eyes full of questions. He didn't have to say anything. All it took was a quiet stare and Gilbert answered.

Ludwig flinched as Gilbert's fist banged against the door, causing it to shake. Not for the first time, he thanked the heavens that his brother had not been granted super-strength. He did not know how to hold himself back.

"They took him," Gilbert whispered, voice harsh and rasping. The voice, Ludwig knew, that he used when he was trying not to cry. Gilbert never cried. Never. "They took him! He's gone!"

And Ludwig could find no words in his ten-year-old vocabulary that could express how he felt. The room was silent.

End: Prologue

**Author's Note: So, this is a little side project I'm working on! For all of my readers of "And the World Comes Crashing Down", that one takes precedence, but when this idea came into my head I just couldn't resist! What do you guys think? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**That's What You Get {Playing With Fire}**

Start: Chapter One

I.

The truck door opening blinded me for a moment, light spilling into the compartment and sending harsh glares into my eyes. I blinked rapidly, just making out the dark shape reaching for me and hauling me up and out. I felt the cramps in my legs anew, and the burn in my arms for being restrained for hours worsened at the not-so-gentle touch.

I was set on my feet and pushed towards a door. I stumbled forward, meekly accepting the nonverbal order. Every step burned but every time I tried to stop and rest I was pushed forward. The door hadn't seemed that far when I started off.

Eventually I made it, stepping into a room that was too white and yet so filled with black – the dark costumes of the creepers moving everywhere. It made me catch my breath and tense, desperate to flee. But the creeper seemed to sense this and stopped trying to make me walk, picking me up and half-dragging me instead.

A few moments of pause in which my captor spoke to another figure in black. I caught a few words, "sensory… sound… put him with the other one…" but could not make sense of what any of them meant. Then we were off again, down a hallway, and through a door.

I was dumped unceremoniously on the ground, on which I then crumpled. Footsteps headed out the door, which I heard close and lock.

I peeked out from my spot on the floor, took in the white room and the two beds. I blinked, struck by how normal it seemed, and then the room was filled with things that did not exist.

Little women with wings flitted around my face, glowing orbs of light that giggled and chattered. A horse with a horn headed towards me, brown eyes gazing at me silently. A couple pockets of lights burst, raining down rainbows.

This wasn't possible. What was this place? I shrank against the door.

All of a sudden a boy was walking towards me. I glanced at his blonde head, trying to calm myself as he grabbed my arm and pulled me right through the creatures. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the… guards of the room I guessed. The things that should not exist.

"Bloody hell, they can't even touch you! There was no reason to freak out like that!

I looked through my eyelids at the boy. He was slightly shorter than me, but only by a couple centimeters, had ash-blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and a scowl that looked rather permanent. I bit my lip. Who was he?

He stared at me, eyes narrowing the slightest amount, in thought I supposed. "Haven't you ever seen hallucinations before?" he asked. "Sorry if they caught you off guard, whenever that door opens, it's become a habit to throw them up. Surprise the creepers, you know."

I took a couple shuddering breaths. This boy was a muttie. He made hallucinations. That explained it.

"No, I haven't seen hallucinations… My brothers and I, we usually kept to ourselves," I said softly. "I'm Roderich. I make music."

The boy's eyes widened now, in surprise. "Sound… Don't see many of those among us sensory mutties. We're almost always sight. Well, I'm Arthur. You've just been stuffed in my room, so I guess you're my new roommate. My last one ran away. And they'll never get him." Arthur sent a pointed look at the door. "And if you're lucky, you won't be in here very long. He went out to get help, my old roommate did. Heard tell of some fire elemental muttie. He's air, you see. The two elements together, they could do just about anything. Including bust this place open."

Intrigued as I was, I didn't know much about what Arthur was saying. Sensory, elemental… One thing stuck out at me. A fire elemental…

"This fire elemental… What did you hear of him?" I listened to how quiet my voice was compared to Arthur's who almost shouted what he said and spoke in a mild British accent, toned down with American and stuffed with Southern highlights.

Arthur sucked in a breath. "It's amazing, really. We've heard he can pull fire out of the air just by snapping! He goes around with these two other kids… Both mutties, and the creepers we overheard it from think they're related. And I believe they said something about him looking like he came from the fire itself… Red eyes and all."

Smiling, I looked Arthur right in the eye. "We'll get out all right. And I don't think you're old roommate will have to go far. That's my brother. And you bet he's already coming for me."

II.

Gilbert could hear the quiet movements of Ludwig behind him, could imagine the mental battle the young boy was having. To approach or not to approach… Hopefully the kid had the good sense to stay away. Gilbert was at the end of his fuse, shaking, and only wanting one thing – his brother back with him and the three of them all on their way out of the state, if not country.

Why had he kept running? He should have turned around, should have shot the creeper to the ground for daring to lay a hand on Roderich. Weak, quiet Roderich. His music could have concussive qualities, yes, but once he'd shot once, he wouldn't again. And he could be so damn _stupid_, always trying to look after Gilbert, even though it was obvious who was the one who needed looking after.

A movement just outside the building caught Gilbert's eye and he slowly stood up, one hand raised in a defensive position. He could hear the rustle of clothing as Ludwig also stood, and the two brothers faced the door together, staying as quiet as possible, tensed and ready to fight.

Though now Gilbert was wondering if he should – if it was the creepers, why resist? They would take him to his brother.

The door opened a crack, and a voice obviously teenaged called through. "Please don't hurt me, I just need a place to crash for the night!"

Quizzically, Gilbert stared at the door. Another teenager? But the only kids who wandered about… He lowered his hand the slightest amount, but did not give any offer to let the owner of the voice in.

Apparently, no offer was needed, as the door opened more and a tall blonde stepped in. He was dressed all in blue, the clothes dirty and obviously well-used. He glanced around the room, looking at anything but the two brothers.

"I'd forgotten about these places until I saw you in here," he muttered. "I didn't realize that people still kept them up."

Now Gilbert lowered his hand fully and stepped forward, taking in the boy. He didn't look particularly impressive, but you could never tell… You could never tell who were the dangerous ones.

"Not all norms hate us," he said softly, running a hand through his white hair. "Who are you?" Gilbert had never been one to beat around the bush. That had been Roderich's job.

The boy finally looked at Gilbert, his blue eyes meeting the red. Gilbert watched him flinch back, then lean forward, eyes widening in surprise. "You-you're the fire kid!"

"I prefer Gilbert," he said dryly, deciding that whoever this kid was, he wasn't the brightest. Couldn't even answer a normal question.

A beaming smile broke across the kid's face. "I can't believe it! I found you, so quickly!"

Gilbert's eyes widened as the boy flew, literally flew, across the room and landed before him, leaning towards his face and jabbering excitedly. "I'm Alfred. I've heard about you, heard a lot! Can you really just snap and fire comes out? You do know that fire is the most rare elemental power, right? I'm just an air, the most common elemental, you know. But I don't care; it's awesome being able to fly! I think my old roommate was even jealous of it…"

Finally the words stopped, but not before Gilbert's head was spinning. Suspiciously, he stared at Alfred, half expecting him to start up again. "What's the matter?" he asked. People aren't supposed to just randomly stop talking.

"I almost forgot why I was looking for you. And now I remember and I remember Arthur and… I can't believe I left him there."

Hearing Ludwig step up next to him, Gilbert stole a glance at his younger brother. Calm. It seemed as if he was the most lucky, having the physical attributes that Gilbert had and the relaxed demeanor of Roderich. Of course, his power was the least impressive, but even it was awesome.

"Gilbert… See, I remember your name now!" Alfred's beaming smile broke through his sadness for a second before once again he remembered something. "Wait, don't let me get sidetracked. I need your help. You see, I'm a runaway. From the creepers. And I need your help in freeing my roommate, Arthur."

Finding that he couldn't speak – this was all just too perfect! – Gilbert let Ludwig talk, not breaking in like he normally would.

"It just so happens, Alfred, that you have come at a convenient time to ask for such a thing," the preteen said in his unexpectedly commanding voice. "For you see, our brother was just captured. And I believe that I speak for both of us when I say that it has been our only thought since then that we get him back."

The two older boys smiled, but for reasons quite different. Gilbert could imagine that Alfred was grinning because he had succeeded in this first part of his mission. But Gilbert himself was showing teeth because it was true, he had been thinking only about ways to free Roderich. And only now did he realize it.

III.

The man stood in front of the window, his face in complete shadow. But everyone around him could feel the frown on his face in the atmosphere of the room as he looked in on the two boys. Only he could hear what they were saying, but they all could feel the tension. And tension is even less good than usual when you don't know what causes it.

Finally he turned back to the other people. "He is still spreading that rumor. Why have you not found the escapee yet? Two days. It should not take you this long. Damn it, damn all of you, he has been marked!"

A few people trembled, a couple hid behind clipboards.

"But sir," some brave soul called. "The marker's signal has been interrupted!"

"That's impossible!" The first man snapped. "Our markers are infallible. The best in the world. Let the other countries have runaways. Let them chase mutties across the globe. Let them sweat it out, for they know they will answer to us. We do not lose kids here! We have never lost one and then you all but let some flying boy ditch because you are afraid he'll kick you in the head! Stupid!"

"Think what you like," a cool voice called out from the back of the room, "but your underling speaks true. I have checked it myself. The signal has been interrupted."

The people parted, letting a tall woman with waist-length brown hair to the man by the window. The two faced each other as equals, but no one missed the clearly superior attitude of the woman.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Two brown eyes stared from the man's face. "What a nightmare. If we cannot bring them all here, where will they be when the time comes? Dead, that's where they'll be! We have to protect our future."

Laughing softly, the woman gently put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Do not worry. We will get them all. But have you never considered another approach? Honestly. Children do not like being chased. It is the reason why they run without even needing to know who they are running from."

"You have another idea?"

"You know me too well."

End: Chapter One

**Author's Note: I know, I know, too long since an update. But guess what? It's Thanksgiving break! Yay! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please continue to review!**

**StarGazer453** – Have I ever mentioned how much I love that you stalk all of my fics? I should, because I do…

**EhCanuck** – Why thank you! And no worries, a whole bunch of different Hetalia characters will be showing up in this one…

**APHxENGLAND** – Of course! And it's fantasy just for you my friend. Because I know how much you love it.

**Lightning834** – Yes, it's really different from what I normally do, huh?


	3. Chapter 2

Start: Chapter Two

I.

After our initial conversation, Arthur didn't talk much. He just lay there on his bed, occasionally throwing up strange, unreal beings. He would stare at them, his mouth moving, but no sounds coming out. Every once in a while he would look over at me and make like he was going to talk, but then decide otherwise.

I wished he would. I had a lot of questions, but I wasn't sure how to talk to him. He was just so different in demeanor from Gilbert and Ludwig… And I had hardly any contact with other humans for four years.

Finally he propped himself up on a shoulder and looked fully at me. His green eyes were wide, full of questions and excitement, and I decided to judge him as younger than me. Though of course, you can never tell, as Gilbert could still get such a look and was my elder.

"So, Roderich… What's it like out there now? I've been here for years… Seen three birthdays in this room. How has it changed?"

I studied Arthur for a moment, turning over the questions in my head. I was astonished that he had been here for so long, and felt bad that I didn't have much to say. It wasn't as if I had paid attention to the world much. It wasn't like I had been just trying to get to the next day or anything.

"The lights are brighter and the world is grayer. The rich have bigger TVs and smaller music players. The noises are louder and the silences last longer. The people are more accepting, less accepting, genius, brainless. Some norms lay out houses for us, some scream for the creepers if they even suspect that someone is a muttie. It's not much different… But it's a world away from what it was."

There was silence for a little while, but it was less of one that spoke of not knowing what to say, but one that thought things through and took in new information. I could feel Arthur trying to make sense of my words, and I wondered why he I had said them.

The door opened and suddenly the room was full of magical creatures again. Glancing over at Arthur, I saw that he was on his feet and got up as well, raising up my hands and gathering power up from the depths of my mind.

From across the room, an angry voice called, "Put the damn fairies away Arthur, it's time for lunch. My God, you don't need to get all freaky every time, now do you? You know we have meals and someone has to _open the damn door_ for you to go to them!"

Rolling his eyes, Arthur let the illusions slip. I lowered my hands and peered through my glasses at an irritable boy across the room, hands crossed over his chest, gold eyes narrowed. A creeper loomed over him.

"Oh, stop it Lovi, don't be so upset just because you are on meal duty. Means you get to say hi to all of our friends!"

Another boy walked into the doorway, bouncing on the balls of his feet and beaming a huge smile our way. "Come on Arthur it's time to… Oh, hello! Who are you?

All of a sudden he was in front of me, chocolate eyes boring into my violet ones, unnatural curl of hair that defied gravity – much like a cowlick that I had – bouncing from his quick flight. I flinched when he gave me a hug, not having ever really received one from anyone but my brothers. But I quickly calmed, a feeling of happiness entering me, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was coming from this boy.

This was broken by a cloud of anger and the words of this 'Lovi' at the door. "Let go of my brother, crazy bastard!"

The hugger let go and turned around with a wail of, "Lovino, no one wants you making them angry! Quit being such a trickster! You interrupted my happiness!"

Looking towards Arthur, he quickly moved towards me and whispered into my ear. "Lovino and Feliciano. They control the emotions of anger and happiness. Don't mind them, they are just here to bring us to lunch."

He gestured toward the door and forward I walked, wondering what I would find on the other side of it.

II.

Despite wanting so much to help, Alfred seemed to be very easily distracted. He asked for food constantly, stressing particularly that he wanted a hamburger. He was also quite clear on the fact that he was "the hero," despite not being the oldest in the room, and all of his plans being entirely unfeasible.

But he did have one talent that Gilbert was grateful for. The ability to talk. With him filling the silence, it was easier not to remember and Gilbert found himself speaking more and more. And once he even caught Ludwig laughing, not loudly, but enough. When asked about it, Ludwig told him that it was just that Alfred reminded him a lot of a younger Gilbert.

Thinking about it, Ludwig just added the word younger to be nice. Gilbert still acted in such a way, most of the time. Just not now. Not when there were more important things to be considered. He at least knew when to be serious.

"How about we build a giant robot, and tell it to smash the building to rubble. But just before it does, I'll fly through and bring everyone out!"

He stared at Alfred for a moment, trying to figure out how this was different from any of the past twenty plans he had gone over. "And how would you get people out?"

He grinned. "There is someone I know who controls gravity. Everyone would levitate!" Gilbert watched his face fall. "Wait… He only controls the gravity around himself."

Deciding to ignore Alfred for a little while, Gilbert leaned back and started to play with the fire. Snap, watch it glow, douse it. Snap, feed it a bit, curl it around a finger douse it. He never was burned by fire. It was like a part of him.

_"It's like a little heartbeat. A rhythm. Pulsing. Just add some melody to the background and it is a song."_

Gilbert sat up straight, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. He hardly noticed Alfred and Ludwig staring at him, Ludwig's blue eyes worried. But he knew he had heard it. Roderich's voice.

_"Start on middle C, I should think. Make that 'Do'. And go into some triads. Just a simple melody. Make your fire come alive."_

The words were familiar. And thinking back, they were something that Roderich had said. Years ago. Just a few days after they had left home.

_"Gilbert… I feel like we are being followed. If ever we lose sight of one another, I want you to know that I believe in you. I know that you will try to find me. And I will look for you."_

_"Just listen for the music. Triads. Do Mi Sol Mi Do. Listen, and you'll know how to help."_

_"But music needs rhythm, brother. Music needs… A heartbeat."_

Gilbert was on his feet in a heartbeat. "Alfred, we need to get close to this place. Can you get us there without being caught?"

Nodding slowly, the boy levitated slightly, cleaning his glasses on his shirt. "Yes. But why? We don't have a plan."

"And we won't think of one at this rate. I'm needed there."

Ludwig stepped over to Gilbert before he could rush out the door, gripping his wrist and holding his brother back with his unnatural strength. "What do you mean Gilbert? Don't go rushing into things without telling me."

Gilbert looked at Ludwig and ruffled his blonde hair affectionately, like he had when the boy was six. "Music needs a heartbeat, Ludwig. I happen to know the precise rhythm that a certain violet-eyed 'aristocrat' likes to build his notes around."

III.

The sound of high-heeled shoes taking steps across the floor echoed through the hallway. Turning a corner, the brown-haired woman walked up to a door and pressed a thin finger against a pad there. She stepped back and allowed the door open before entering.

She approached a glass screen and pulled a microphone up to her face. Peering through the window, her dark green eyes searched out a small figure crouched in the shadows. A thin smile turned up her lips, giving her an almost wolf-like appearance.

"I have come to visit you, my child," she crooned in a voice sickly sweet with false affection. "Would you do something for your mother, dearest? Will you help me with something?"

A thin face turned toward the screen, belonging to a small, brunette boy about eighteen. He was blindfolded, fabric wrapped tightly around his eyes and tied in the back, and his hands were chained against the wall. A sort of small frown appeared on his face.

"You are not my mother," he said softly. "I saw her die. You are merely an intruder in the body she used to occupy. Don't lie to me. You can't lie to me."

The smile vanished on the lady's face, anger instead appearing. "Listen brat. I'm just trying to survive, like every one of us out in this pathetic place we call Earth. I can help you. I can get you out of here. I can change how the world sees your kind… Our kind. But I need your help. And I will get it whether you cooperate or not."

The boy turned his head away. "What do you need me to dream of this time?"

A look of relief briefly flitted across the woman's face. "The fire boy. And Alfred, if you find them together. We need them both here."

"Perhaps I will not have to dream then," came the nearly whispered answer. "You have had me watch Gilbert – that is his name – so much. Now that Roderich is here, he will not be far behind. It is merely a matter of finding where he hides."

Leaning forward, the woman's very existence spoke of eagerness. "Dreamer, can you find where he will be? If we get this boy, then there is only one other Elementalist in the States. We will be so close."

"I can find him."

The woman let her excitement fade into quiet professionalism. "Thank you, Dreamer. I will not forget this." She turned to leave.

Hearing her footsteps receding, the boy turned back to the direction of the window, despite not being able to see. "Parazita," he said, voice raised slightly.

The steady clicking of the shoes stopped and the woman turned back, a stricken look of fear on her face. "Yes Dreamer?" she said softly.

"Let us be done with the lies. You are not my mother, and you have never been her. So, you may call me by my real name."

Sighing, she returned to the microphone so that he could better hear her. "I suppose, considering who you are, I could agree to do such a thing. What is your name?"

"Understand that by me knowing your name and you knowing mine, an alliance has been formed. I can do more than merely see things in dreams. If you do not live up to what I ask, even if I am trapped here, you will be plauged by things you have only seen..." His lips turned up slightly, "In dreams."

Bowing her head slightly, Parazita considered this. "You know my name. I feel it only fair that I know yours. "

Smiling, the boy nodded. "Very well then. I am Heracles."

End: Chapter Two

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry it's been so long! School... I apologize! Just know that come summer, updates will be must faster.**

**Keep favoriting, following, reviewing, all of that great stuff that you do :D**

**Thank you all my reviewers for your kind words. I hope I haven't lost you having been gone so long...  
**


	4. Chapter 3

Start: Chapter Three

I.

I don't know what I was expecting of the cafeteria. But I do know I wasn't expecting it to look so… Normal. Like the cafeteria in the school I had gone to when I was younger. The one I had used to follow Gilbert around in and fade back like a distressed shadow when he waved me off to sit with his friends.

There were some subtle differences. The people who would have been the equivalent of teacher aides were armed guards marked as lower than the creepers only by their brown uniforms. That and the fact that there were no windows. And that amazingly the food looked… Edible. This I had not been expecting at all.

"Lovi!" A tan, brown-haired figure launched himself at the angry guide we had. His arms quickly wrapped around the boy. "I missed you!"

Strangled noises come from Lovino as he struggled to get away. "Damn it, Antonio you bastard! Get off me!" He quickly turned red and I could feel the anger radiate off of him into the room. But this Antonio didn't seem to be affected.

If anything, he appeared happier, laughing at Lovino's struggles. "You're all red! Like a little tomato!"

I could just hear Lovino start to protest that he was not a tomato when Arthur pulled me away. "They do that every mealtime," he said, rolling his eyes. "But everyone knows that they are really snogging in the lavatory, no matter what that crazy Italian says."

Not being quite sure what 'snogging' meant, I decided to just nod and follow Arthur to the line for food. I grabbed a tray and moved to the containers of what seemed to be macaroni and cheese.

"Hey Arthur!" a pretty girl with long brown hair said to my roommate. She flashed a smile and held out a spoonful of the overly-cheesy pasta to his plate. "You want some glop?"

He laughed quietly and nodded. "Sure Lizzie. What did you do to get on food duty?"

She opened her eyes innocently as she spooned the food onto his plate. "Oh, nothing much. I certainly didn't use my speed to see how many times I could hit Francis over the head with a frying pan in a minute. If you want something bad, you should have seen what he was doing to poor Lilli!" She shook her head, smiling a little. "It's two hundred fifty times in sixty seconds, in case you were wondering."

A sort of malicious grin appeared on Arthur's face. "Oh please tell me you got him in the infirmary. Please."

The girl sighed and shook her head. "Unfortunately no. The creepers got me before I could do too much damage. Stuck me with this job. He's right over there in his usual corner, eying you and…" She turned towards me and her bright green eyes widened. "Who is your friend?"

Arthur had been in a sort of cower when she had said that this Francis was in watching him, but quickly stood up straight and waved his hand in a sort of introductory gesture between us. "Lizzie, this is Roderich. Roderich, Elizabeta."

Her face turned shy and she twisted the spoon in front of her. "H-hi," she stammered. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then she stuck out her hand. "W-would you like some mac n' cheese?" she said, practically shouting.

A little taken about by this change of attitude between her conversation with Arthur and talking to me, I slowly nodded and handed my tray to her. I watched as she shakily measured just the right amount of pasta, then gave it back.

Arthur looked amused and moved his plate down the line. "Bye Lizzie," he called, grabbing an apple and a juice box and stepping away.

"Bye Arthur…" She blushed scarlet. "Roderich." And then she was quickly busied by Feliciano and Lovino, the latter now holding hands with Antonio and staring pointedly at the ground. I grabbed an apple and juice of my own and followed Arthur, quickly placing these items on my tray.

The Briton went toward en empty table and put his tray down. The instant he was about to sit, however, he started laughing hysterically, twitching. Then his face went blank and a dark sort of anger dawned on it. He turned slowly towards a long-haired blonde boy with a bit of beard stubble, now looking enraged.

"STOP IT NOW, FRANCIS, BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND MURDER YOU!"

The entire room, which had been keeping up a dull of chatter, fell silent and turned to look at the pair. Francis stood and leaned against the wall, a small pout about his lips.

"Well, mon ami, at least then you would be over here with me. We can speak of unpleasant things like murder at some later time, non?" But I could tell he had stopped whatever he had been doing, because Arthur relaxed from a tense position he had gone into.

Arthur raised his eyebrows, which was quite a sight to see. They were both incredibly thick and moved upwards like several caterpillars stretching towards the light. "Unpleasant things like murder? I find what you do to me every time I walk into the same room as you unpleasant!"

Francis chuckled. "But you know I cannot help it. When I see you I simply must. It brings me a little bit of joy in this terrible place."

I leaned forward a bit to speak in Arthur's ear. "What exactly does he do that bothers you so much?" There had been nothing visible, so I wasn't quite sure what they were going on about.

My roommate moved his head quickly to glance at me. "He molests me. From a distance." He spoke with gritted teeth and his hands were balled into fists at his sides.

"Molests? Do not be giving him the wrong opinion of me!" Francis tilted his head, looking upset. "I merely have the talent to make people feel like someone is touching them without me physically having to do anything."

Arthur stamped his foot. "Merely? Perverted frog, you know exactly what you do!"

I stood in silence, watching them bicker for a moment, then sat down at the table that Arthur had put his food at and began eating mine. This entire place was merely a small school with no way out. And with my limited school experience, I knew it was always best to keep as low a profile as possible.

II.

It was easy for Alfred to get around. Gilbert watched jealously as the other teenager dipped and swerved in the air. He was silent too. He didn't make any of the tap-tap sound that Ludwig and Gilbert did when they walked. And Gilbert knew that, in an emergency, Alfred could be gone in an instant while he and his younger brother would be stuck running and hoping. Their luck hadn't been that great recently.

But it was odd. They didn't see even the slightest hint of a creeper anywhere along their way. They walked all night, and through breakfast the next day –a quick thievery job – and then kept on going. Closer and closer they were getting to the creeper's headquarters, and never once saw the black clothed people.

"You don't want to go _in_ do you?" Alfred asked, finally setting foot on the ground. It was after supper on the second day of walking and the flying boy had been saying for a couple hours that they were close.

Gilbert shook his head. "No, just get close enough to see it. Not in. Yet." He curled a small bit of flame around a finger. It had been with him most of the journey, and to him it seemed that it had grown stronger the closer they grew to Roderich. It had started pulsing with a familiar rhythm. Triplets, Roderich called it.

Alfred nodded, looking relieved. "Good, because I'm not sure I could get you in. The way I got out was really high."

Out of the corner of Gilbert's eye, he could see Ludwig smile a little. "What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," the blonde boy said. "I was just thinking that I could get you up to wherever it was."

Laughing nervously, Gilbert rubbed the back of his head. "You wouldn't…" He stared at Ludwig for a moment, then blinked his red eyes. "You would. You would throw me up to the top of the building and break every single bone in my body."

"You aren't that desperate, are you?" Ludwig leveled his gaze to look at his older brother, the merest spark of curiosity lighting in the blue depths of his eyes. "If that were the only way to get him back, would you go that far?"

Silence fell over the trio, broken a few moments later by Alfred coughing uncomfortably. He wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but it had definitely been awkward for him.

"The containment building… It's just over this ledge," the flying boy said, pointing in the direction he meant. "They'll all be sleeping now. Curfew is very strict." He shifted a little, waiting for the other two to stop staring at each other.

Gilbert turned his head towards Alfred and nodded his head a little. "I figured. Thanks." He walked away from the other two and sat on the ledge, in shadow by an overhanging rock.

The albino's breath caught slightly as he looked down at the building. It was huge and circular, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire. If he looked closely enough, he could tell that cameras were everywhere. A quiet groan escaped him. How was it going to be possible to get in and out of there?

His eyes were drawn to the most heavily guarded portion of the building. He could just make out a large hole high up on the wall, just below the roof. Gathering that this was how Alfred had gotten out, he stared at it curiously, still absentmindedly playing with his little flame.

Sighing, he leaned against the rock and thought back to what Ludwig had said. The _accusation_ behind those words. He had already known that his younger brother blamed him for losing Roderich… But he hadn't known that the boy had seen…

Again he groaned, putting a hand over his eyes to hide them. This was brilliant. He already felt bad enough about it all without a sense of guilt for more.

III.

Heracles could feel the frightened looks he was getting from the people around him. He refused to look back, instead staring at the map spread out on the desk in front of him. Holding it down, one hand on each side, he tried to ignore the leg iron attaching him to the ground. It certainly was a step up from what he had before.

For the first time in years his eyes were unbound. They were green, but seemed to have a thin layer of film over them. He could see perfectly, but to him it was almost as if everything was at a distance.

Glancing up from the map for a moment, the boy scanned the room, eyes finally lighting on his mother's body. Occupied by a murderess, he thought bitterly. The Parasites were a type of muttie all their own, nearly immortal as when they were close to dying, they could swap the body they were born into for another. Just so long as they killed the person first.

Parazita, the abomination inside of his mother that he had allied himself with – not without lots of thought and much deliberation on the outcomes of all other possibilities – was not the only Parasite here. The other head creeper was one as well. A much… _Simpler_ life-form, Heracles had already come to think. He did not use his brain as much as Parazita did. But he liked to think that he was very bright.

Loinen was the name of the man. The Dreamer found it interesting that all of their kind seemed to have names that translated into the word "parasite." As if their parents had been proud.

He couldn't imagine why. Parazita had brutally killed his mother before entering her body, right in front of him. He had been no more than eight at the time. And the body that Loinen was in… That man had been a grandfather of two boys, both now stuck here.

Sitting down, Heracles pulled open a drawer in the desk he was stationed at. He had been granted access to all of the files collected on the other mutties, so long as there were others in the room while he looked at them.

Most of the information he knew already. There was a list of the known mutties in America, placed in their different categories. He noticed his name in a category of its own. Heracles Karpusi – Dreamer. Parazita and Loinen were in their own spot as well. It came as a bit of a relief to know that there were no others of their kind in the country.

His eyes scanned the names there, knowing them all. The Neuros were all geniuses in some way, their minds so sharp that they were almost impossible to fool. It was the most common category in the world, but not the most common in America. Of course, it was hard to tell if a person was one, as they could be ridden off simply as nerds. They also, more often than not, were physically weak. Every name on the list was marked as in custody.

The Tricksters either had talents that could be found in magic shows, or they influenced emotions. This list of names was the longest on the sheet, the range of things done the most unusual. One of his fingers ran over the list, stopping on three. Those three were still out there, free. Looking at their powers, it was obvious why.

There were only four names under the heading of Enhanced. These were people who had some sort of physical or mental ability become stronger as a result of their mutation. If Heracles' talent had to be given a category, this would be it. Out of the four names there, only one was free. Ludwig Beilschmidt, the younger brother of Gilbert and Roderich.

Under Sensory there were also four names. These people could fully manipulate one of the five senses to their wants and desires. Three out of the four were here, the fourth being somewhere a few states over.

The final category, Elemental, consisted of three people. Not one of them was in custody, though of course Alfred had used to be. These three boys could do almost anything they could think of with the element they controlled. Not one had realized their full power yet, but when they did, it would be spectacular. And incredibly problematic for the creepers.

Heracles looked away from the files, sighing softly. He was certain that there were more mutties in America. He had seen a few in his dreams. But these were the ones whose lives he'd followed, who he had cringed should they get captured – the great majority of them, really. And though he had an alliance with the creepers, his true colors were always with the other children of his kind.

Putting the files down, Heracles reviewed his plan in his head. Everyone would get out of here. He would make sure of it. But first he needed the three Elementals where he could contact them. In this containment ward.

Alfred and Gilbert were so close… He could feel that they were close. And with them, he was sure that finding and bringing the last one here would be no problem. After that, it would not be long before they were all free.

His eyes flicked to Parazita. Catching her watching him mistrustfully, he put the files away. It wasn't as if they could tell him anything he didn't know. Beckoning her over, he lightly tapped the map, finger landing on a spot not two hundred feet from the building. A look of surprise crossed the Parasite's stolen face, then she smiled. As far as she was concerned, Gilbert Beilschmidt had just made a grave mistake.

End: Chapter Three

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**Authors Note: Gahh, it's been so long on this one too! My apologies. I know I've probably lost readers... I only got two reviews on the last chapter. But I love writing this story, so I'm not stopping.**

**This chapter was for introducing characters, themes, and explaining a bit about things. It is probably the most important one yet, and definitely the longest. In the future they _should_ be longer, but never trust me on that. I throw whatever length I feel like up.**

**And I'm just going to warn you now. If you do not like boy x boy pairings, or have a problem reading implied incest (or not so implied), you may not want to read. The rating will never go up, but if you can't handle kisses and stuff, the next few chapters may not be for you.**

**Till next time,  
Twizard. **


	5. Chapter 4

Start: Chapter Four

I.

It seemed that everyone in the building liked it when new mutties came in. There was a large stadium where duels would take place – every Friday, I was informed by Arthur, who also smugly said that he had gotten all but one of the others flat on their face, cowering in terror. But this stadium not only was the home of weekly entertainment, but also of a sort of initiation ceremony for the newcomers.

After lunch, Arthur pulled me to the arena before everyone else. I was tugged into the center of it, just a huge empty dome surrounded on all sides by football bleachers. A group of mutties that I had been told were known as Neuros filled up a row in the front. Little geniuses, Arthur said. Five of them, there to analyze my abilities. Or something. He pointed out Kiku, a Japanese boy, as the most important out of the lot.

Arthur stood next to me, looking around at the assembled people. "You know the rules. Those without fighting powers, to the bleachers."

Feliciano and Lovino left to sit, as did a small blonde girl with her hair in braided pigtails. Antonio skipped off too, instantly moving next to Lovino, taking his hand and turning his gaze towards me with a look of deep interest.

"Arthur, what exactly is this initiation?" I asked, looking around at those left. They were forming a line, faces expectant.

The Briton turned to me with a broad smile. "Why, it's a bit of a test. We want to see how your power stacks up to the rest of us with fighting abilities." He gestured down the line. "You'll start with the weakest power and move up to the most challenging. That would be me," he added. "Used to be Alfred, but… Well, he's a lucky git."

Before I could ask any more questions, Arthur had moved to his spot at the end of the line and I was left facing a blonde boy with a pink bow in his hair. He grinned at me. "Like, totally don't expect me to go easy on you!"

Kiku stood up from the bleachers. "First opponent, Feliks. Category: Trickster. Ability: confusion. Power level: eight."

Feliks turned towards the speaker with an angry expression. "Hey! Like, you need to test me again. There is totally no way I am still an eight!"

"What does that even mean?" I called, head turned towards the group of Neuros. "Eight out of what? What is a power level?"

The black-haired Neuro raised a hand, ignoring us both. "And in three. Two. One."

Feliks whipped back towards me, bow bouncing in his hair. He skipped, _skipped,_ forward, raising a hand as he did so, then clenching it into a fist. I briefly noted that his fingernails were painted pink before my mind was clouded with visions of… Ponies.

For a moment it was a blissful sensation, drifting around in a weightless confusion of pink things. But something inside of me retaliated and I could feel my hand lifting, fingers flicking to the side. A blast of sound echoed out around the room and my mind was pulled back into feeling at the sound of a quiet _"oof."_

Slowly, my vision cleared and I blinked over at Feliks, who was six feet from where he had started. He stood, brushing off his clothing, then glanced up at me. "You, like, totally messed up my hair!" he complained, pouting. But he skipped off to the bleachers, still full of girlish cheer, moving to sit next to a Neuro I vaguely remembered being named Toris.

Kiku was on his feet again, and I turned my attention to the next person in line. It was another blonde boy, this one looking very much like the girl who had gone and sat on the bleachers. He stared with narrowed eyes, arms across his chest.

"Second opponent, Vash. Category: Trickster. Ability: bullet. Power level: nine." And before the countdown even started, Vash had rolled into a ball and blasted toward me much like… Well, a bullet. I just barely managed to bounce him back with a wall of sound.

The little mini-battles continued on like this, me somehow managing to fight off every person who came up, from the Enhanced girl Elizabeta who demonstrated amazing speed, to a scary girl in the same category named Natalya who had amazing agility. Francis came after her, and was more of a challenge. I found that it is hard to concentrate when you are being punched with an invisible fist and absolutely no way to tell where they were coming from. But eventually Francis was down as well.

Arthur stepped forward with a small smile, hands clasped behind his back lazily. But I could see a sort of excitement in his eyes and knew that most people did not get to him. That this was interesting and new for him, and he wanted to prove that he was still the strongest.

I for one did not want to get on the bad side of my roommate, but was not about to go down easily. This was some sort of test, I had been told, and I had always been the good child in school who passed all tests, one hundred percent.

Kiku stood. "Final opponent, Arthur. Category: Sensory. Ability: sight. Power level: eighteen."

I stood, shocked. Throughout the course of the afternoon I had figured out that power levels had to be how strong a person's power was. Francis was a fifteen. He had been difficult. So that meant that Arthur would have to be almost impossible. Hadn't he said that the only person who had been stronger than him was the air Elemental who had escaped?

Just as I was finishing gathering my thoughts together, Kiku counted down and Arthur stepped forward more. Instantly the world around me filled with the sights I had first seen when walking into our shared room. The ones that had held me paralyzed. Fairies and dragons and dwarves walking around as if they belonged in this world.

_They aren't real_, I told myself, and I clenched my fists before spreading my fingers and shoving outward. The boom of sound that followed cleared a space so that I saw Arthur. But he filled it just as fast, with shadows that swooped down and clawed at me.

The mantra of them not being real, not being true, not really there repeated in my head as I pushed away the creatures with the sound that radiated from my fingertips. If I could just find Arthur again, knock him down, the pictures would go away.

There was the slightest hint of movement to my right and I turned that way, closing my eyes and pushing out blindly with a cacophony of deep drums. A muffled noise rewarded me, then a thump and my eyes opened just a little, surprised at the sudden lack of illusions. And there was Arthur, knocked off his feet by the force of my desperate blast.

For a moment there was silence except for my own panting, exhausted after the numerous battles. I thought back to all that had happened throughout my life, the gentle teasing that I was weak and would never survive against a real challenge… What had changed?

Kiku made a note and stood up, nodding at me and leading the Neuros out. Then Arthur stood and I stepped back, afraid to see anger and a flashing emerald glare. Instead there was a grin and he walked over, clapping my back in that painful way that Gilbert used to do.

"Good job, Roderich. Been a while since that happened. But never you worry, I will find your weakness and then you'll lose." He looked cheerful as he walked away, a couple blue fairies following him.

Everyone else left in a haze of congratulations, grins and frowns and uninterested looks, even a blush and stutter from Elizabeta. Once they were all gone, I went over to the bleachers, sinking onto them and resting my now incredibly weak-feeling legs.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back and flicked my hand slightly, guiding a sound out of the air. A simple melody… Missing something. I frowned, curling up where I sat. Something felt off.

II.

Gilbert stayed sitting under that ledge for a while. He knew that Ludwig and Alfred had moved to another spot, giving him some space as he thought. Surely it shouldn't be so hard to think of a plan. He knew that Alfred wanted to get out his old roommate, and he wanted Roderich. It was only necessary to free two people. That shouldn't be so hard.

But nothing was coming to him. The amount of security on the building was daunting and all the walking had made him tired. So he stood and headed in the direction he believed Alfred and Ludwig had gone.

There was silence. Shouldn't he be hearing the voices of the other two by now? Gilbert frowned, red eyes wandering around the area. There was something wrong.

A footstep behind him and he spun, hand raised with tendrils of flame flickering at each fingertip. His red eyes narrowed at a tall shape moving towards him and he stepped backwards, stopping as he ran into something firm and warm.

His head turned a little and his eyes widened at the creeper there. He moved and started in another direction, until he felt rock press against his spine. He raised his hand, flame growing white in the center as his fight or flight reaction kicked in.

"Be rid of your flame," came a guttural voice – he had never heard a creeper talk and this startled him. He just raised his hand higher, the fire dancing in his red eyes, casting shadows over his face.

The creeper stood to the side a little, letting two others come forward. One was holding onto Alfred, the tall boy's head limp to the side, a bit of quickly drying blood around his jaw. Unconscious. The other was carrying Ludwig, the blonde head falling back and eyes closed. Drugged, by the looks of it. A shocked, pained expression went across Gilbert's face.

"I said to douse your flame, Gilbert. Come willingly, and no further harm will come to any of you," said the creeper who had spoken before. Gilbert found it incredibly unsettling to not be able to see the face of someone speaking to him.

By now, more creepers had appeared, silent shadows surrounding Gilbert. His eyes flicked around them and his thoughts returned to before Alfred had shown up. He had thought it would be best if he was just caught. Then they would take him right to Roderich.

Slowly, his hand lowered and the flames disappeared from his fingers. He stared down at the ground as the creeper grabbed his hands and forced them behind his back, tying them together. Then his arm was taken hold of and he was forced towards the building.

It was a long, silent walk. He couldn't look back at Alfred and Ludwig, but he knew that neither of them had come to yet, which was worrisome. The creeper tried to drag him along, but he kept pace, back straight, not about to let a man who wouldn't even show his face be rid of his pride.

Eventually, they were brought into the far too white lobby. Gilbert covered his eyes for a moment, the brightness of it having been a shock from the swiftly falling night outside. His arm was tugged on and he kept going, bringing his hand down and keeping his gaze away from the glare of the floor.

They stopped in a long room full of beds – empty beds – first, and Alfred and Ludwig were dropped off. Some sort of infirmary, apparently. Then Gilbert was tugged onwards, towards a hall filled with doors.

Other people were moving around the hall, a few teenagers who seemed to be mutties, tailed at a distance by creepers as they moved from room to room. They would look at Gilbert curiously, then turn away, heading elsewhere.

Out of a larger door appeared another muttie, looking around desperately and moving out into the hall, seemingly without a creeper watching over him. Squinting his eyes, Gilbert could tell that the boy was distraught. Figuring this was none of his business, he looked away again, eyes wandering around.

A cry came from the boy he had seen and Gilbert looked back, eyes widening as he saw who it was. Roderich looked absolutely exhausted, violet eyes dull and normally so perfect hair messed up. Pulling out of the grip of the creeper, Gilbert ran to his half-brother as best as he could with his arms still pulled behind his back.

The brunette looked up at Gilbert, then undid the bindings that held his hands together. Gilbert let the ropes fall to the ground, bringing his hands to tilt up Roderich's chin and look his face over. Roderich had some bruises and, as noted before, his hair was in disarray, but other than that he seemed fine.

"How… They… They got you," Gilbert heard Roderich whisper before he was pulled into a hug, the small, glasses-covered face buried into his chest. He knew that his half-brother wouldn't cry – he wasn't good at expressing his emotions, especially with others there – but the thin body shook. Rubbing Roderich's back gently, Gilbert glanced around, then pressed a small kiss to the other teenager's head, it not being obvious to anyone else.

"Ey, no. I'll get us out. That's the awesome thing to do anyways," Gilbert said, voice forcefully light. He saw a couple of the other mutties had stopped and were staring, and his grip tightened on Roderich slightly, protectively, not trusting people who had practically grown up here. "But look, you're drawing attention. Aren't you the one who always says to lay low?" his voice was strained, but still light.

Roderich nodded and stepped back a little, violet eyes looking blankly around the hallway. The staring mutties moved on, almost as if they were _afraid _of the boy. Afraid of little Roderich, who desperately held onto things like manners and eating with silverware and all these useless practices that people gave up after being in hiding for so long.

"My room is there…" Roderich murmured, pointing to a door. "You'll know it from the fairies."

Gilbert looked closer, and sure enough, fantastical creatures were flitting about the door. He blinked, then figured that must be another muttie's creations. Giving a small nod to Roderich, he glanced up at the creeper who once again had hold of his arm.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at supper," Roderich murmured, glancing up at the hooded man with a flash of fear in his eyes. He quickly turned and walked into his room.

Gilbert watched him go, letting himself be pulled to an empty room next to the one Roderich had gone into. It looked smaller than Roderich's had from the outside. There was just one bed, so he assumed that there would be no roommate in the picture. The creeper shoved him in, then closed the door. He stared after the man for a moment, then went and sat on the bed, closing his eyes.

If he listened hard enough, he could just make out the sound of faint music from the wall behind him.

III.

Heracles looked up at Parazita with half-lidded eyes, head resting in the palm of his hand. She was looking through the window, watching the hallway as people came and went. He knew that the Parasite had not missed the exchange between Gilbert and Roderich, and ever since then she had that small little frown on her face that meant she was thinking. A gesture stolen from his mother, he might add. Throughout the years she had stolen more and more from the woman he had looked up to.

Eventually she looked back at Heracles, eying him with that mistrustful look she always gave him. It was lessening some. He had been right about where Gilbert was, after all. That hadn't been a trick. But Heracles did know that he had to do more. In order for everything to fall into place, she had to trust him.

"What is the relationship between those two boys?" Parazita demanded, moving to press the palms of her hands against the table Heracles was sitting at. He personally did not see how this question was relevant to anything, and merely shrugged.

"There are close," was his response. "All three of them are close. Depending solely on one another for so many years will do that to you." His gaze flicked to Loinen, standing a few feet away. He knew very well want went on between the two Parasites. He looked back at Parazita before she could follow his glance.

Slowly, the woman nodded, relaxing. She moved back to the window.

"I'm sure that they will test him tomorrow. I will look forward to observing that." Heracles knew that she was referring to solely Gilbert now. They had both watched the other mutties testing Roderich this afternoon, observing via a video camera placed in the arena. Parazita had seemed fascinated, amazed at the power hidden in the small brunette. "I am also very interested to see the outcome of a match between the two brothers."

Heracles nodded some, though he already knew what would happen when the two faced each other. But now his attention was being drawn to a commotion at the other end of the room, Loinen striding over to a computer screen and bending over it.

"Parazita, come see this," he called, glancing up with a frown at the woman.

She stepped away from the window, then looked down at the computer, head tilted down and brown hair spilling over her face. She blinked in surprise, a frown appearing on her own face. Then she looked up, walking back over to Heracles once more after printing out two new files.

"There are now two free Elementalists in the country. I expect you to find them both by tomorrow." She dropped two files in front of Heracles and he picked them up. Looking over the first uninterestedly – the water Elementalist had been in America for years, they just always seemed to miss him – he put it down and opened the other. The one who had just shown up.

His heart stopped and his vacant green eyes opened wide for a moment. For a moment, he didn't breathe, then he forced himself back into normalcy once more. With only slightly unsteady fingers, he put down the file and nodded at Parazita slowly. "Easily done," he murmured, not giving any sign that his heart had sunk down into his stomach.

She nodded as went back to the computer, speaking in hushed tones to Loinen. While she was distracted, Heracles opened the file again and stared down at the picture, eyes wandering to the name next to it. He bit his lip, then rubbed eyes. So he had escaped from the European creepers… Only to come here. Probably to try and find help. That would be Heracles himself, he supposed. But what was he supposed to do now?

End: Chapter Four

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**Well, it appears I did lose some reviewers /sobcry. Oh well, that's what happens when you put too much of a break between updates. Would love to get you all back though, since this is my favorite to write.**

**But this is my favorite chapter so far - definitely the longest. I really hope you like. Some more pairings are coming out... My apologies for those who were hoping for AusHun. Not my favorite **

**Please review, loves~? 3 Hopefully, I'll be seeing you all soon. After the next "And the World Comes Crashing Down" update, of course!**

**Until then, I wish you well, dears.**


	6. Chapter 5

Start: Chapter Five

I.

After returning to my room, Arthur informed me that supper had already passed. Apparently it had been right after they had tested me and I shouldn't have stayed in the stadium for so long. My stomach growled in complaint, but I shrugged and laid down on my bed. Hunger wasn't something I was unused to.

Arthur glanced at me, biting his lip and momentarily ignoring the winged green creature that he had been playing with. "That boy…" he said. "That's your brother, isn't he?"

I nodded and closed my eyes, exhaling slowly. I had been shocked to see Gilbert here, but for some reason, not very surprised. A part of me had just expected him to show up.

The sound of someone appearing in the doorway startled me, my eyes opening to blink at the security guard standing there. A gruff voice gave a command of, "Sleep now," before he shut off the lights. The room was plunged into darkness, except for the glow of Arthur's little green animal.

After a moment, I allowed my eyes to shut again. My exhaustion had me drift off surprisingly quickly, sending me off to dreams.

_My side ached as I ran, tripping over the loose floorboards in my haste. The shoes I wore – hardly could be called shoes anymore, but they were all I had – seemed to shred just with this bit of extra exertion on them._

_"Bastard child!" screamed a voice behind me, angry stomps chasing relentlessly through the basement. Fear pumped adrenaline through my veins, my hands out in front of me, feeling my way blindly through the large room._

_My foot caught on a table leg poking out haphazardly in the empty space. I sprawled forward, landing awkwardly and feeling my ankle twist. I cursed all the junk that my parents kept down here with every bit of my eight-year-old vocabulary, tears blurring my vision._

_"There you are," he growled, holding up a flashlight. My eyes flew up, wide in terror, and I scrambled backwards desperately. Those ice-blue eyes narrowed and he followed with deliberate slowness. "Nasty little bastard."_

_The flashlight struck across my face and I cried out in pain, flailing towards him with my hands. I heard a faint, percussive boom, but it didn't seem to do much more than enrage my "father" more. This time a hand connected with my stomach, causing the wind to be knocked out of me. Tears spilled from my eyes._

_Now the table was taken and raised above his head. I squeezed my eyes shut, curling up, shaky hands wrapping around my head. The air whistled as he heaved the small piece of furniture downwards…_

I woke up, shaking and gasping, almost feeling my twisted ankle and bruised skin once again. The sheets were tangled around my legs, and I sat up to undo them. Arthur was now asleep, his flying creature hovering around his head protectively.

Standing, I stumbled out of the room and towards the bathroom, by the cafeteria. I knew there were cameras watching me – they weren't trying to hide the things – and I only hoped that there wouldn't be any in the more private areas.

Pushing open the door, I managed to get a look at myself in the mirror and see that no, my face was not bleeding, before collapsing by the sink and resting my head against the wall. I could still feel myself trembling, no matter my brain trying to convince my limbs to stay still. It had been years since I had last thought about the man who had hated me so much, even more than he had hated the other boys in the house. It wasn't as if I had chosen the circumstances of my birth.

I froze when I heard the door open, shrinking into the corner. It was probably someone needing to use the toilet; they didn't need to know I was there. But the quiet footsteps went past the stalls and stopped in front of me.

"Roddy," came a quiet voice. My head jerked upwards, relief washing over me when I saw Gilbert. He offered a hand and I took it, using it to pull myself onto my feet.

For a moment, his eyes wandered over my face, looking as worried as he ever seemed able to get. Then he pulled me into a hug, which I reciprocated, hiding my face in his chest. A familiar feeling.

He was so much warmer than other people were. Fire burned inside his soul, I supposed, warming up every bit of skin that surrounded him.

"Nightmare?" he questioned, pulling back a little and tilting my face up. He gauged my nod and the look on my face before narrowing his eyes and saying, "Dad."

I nodded again, holding onto Gilbert tighter. He rubbed my back and pressed his lips to my forehead, effectively warming that one spot. Before he had a chance to pull back more, I leaned forward and kissed him.

There was no hint of surprise, no pause, just lips instantly moving against my own and a few steps pressing me backwards until my back hit the wall. A hand on either side of my body, a tongue sliding into my mouth, easily gaining dominance. My arms stayed wrapped around him, keeping him pressed close.

Gilbert pulled away too soon and my eyes opened, looking over his face. He was smiling – smirking – and holding out a hand. Silently, I took it, and he led me from the bathroom back to the bedrooms. This area was a sort of dormitory, I supposed.

He skipped over my room and went to what I assumed was his own, opening the door and leading me in. It wasn't as dark as mine had been, there being a small ball of fire floating by the bed. It was a technique he had perfected soon after we had left home, very handy for running on dark nights.

I looked back at the entrance, afraid of being caught and reprimanded. I just now thought about the bathroom, hoping that I had been right and there weren't any cameras. But before I could start worrying too much about everything, Gilbert had pulled me onto the bed and forced me to lie down.

His arms wrapped around my waist and I found myself relaxing into them. I turned to face him, a chin tucking my head underneath it.

"Try and sleep more," Gilbert said, quietly. There were few times that he would lose that cocky attitude and condescending grin, but he always seemed to know when to.

Without meaning to, I actually found myself doing as he said, drifting in and out of sleep and eventually staying asleep. I dreamed more, but was no longer haunted by visions of the man who had terrorized the first ten years of my life. With Gilbert there, all I could think about was him.

II.

Feeling Roderich fall asleep, Gilbert sighed softly and turned his gaze up to the ceiling. His half-brother's roommate would have to be just about unconscious to have not been woken by the racket that had been coming from that room. Gilbert had heard it through the wall. In times of distress, Roderich's talents became uncontrollable and would simply let out his emotions, no matter if he was awake or not.

Gilbert knew Roderich. He knew how badly he had been hurt while growing up, knew that he had learned to be as hard as possible on the outside. He had seen his little brother change from always smiling and trusting, to hiding behind a mask of uncaring quiet, the music being his only release.

But he counted himself lucky in the fact that, no matter how hard his little Roddy tried, the boy could not change how he was around Gilbert. Too many years huddled in the backs of closets and away from the fists, too many years with hands held as they tugged each other onward. Just keeping on running.

Ludwig had never seemed to need that support, and Gilbert himself would never admit he did. So he was glad when Roderich didn't hide it. Glad to keep tugging him closer and keep knowing as much as he could.

People just assumed that the two didn't get along. They argued. Their tastes were opposite. It seemed they constantly infuriated each other.

But somewhere along the way, about a year ago, it had just happened. Ludwig had been asleep, Gilbert and Roderich putting up some time-filling banter about whether or not the elder had burnt the wurst that night. Gilbert had been leaning forward; eyes narrowed, for some reason catching the way that Roderich's face flushed, the curve of skin going from neck to shoulder, the way his too-tight clothes formed around him and… They had kissed.

It had been desperate and hurried. Real. Needy. And something had changed after that. Just a subtle shift in the dynamics of the three brothers that Gilbert had thought had gone unnoticed by Ludwig. Apparently not. Not with that accusatory tone he had used earlier in the day. That voice that just said, "Not only did you let your brother go in your place, you let your lover be taken. He would do anything for you. I thought you'd do the same for him."

"Damn it, Roddy," Gilbert murmured, looking down at the sleeping brunette and moving a hand to lightly stroke his cheek. "Why do you just throw yourself around? Why can't you just be a normal selfish little aristocrat for once?"

He sighed, holding onto Roderich tighter for a moment and kissing his forehead. "It will never happen again. You're mine."

Gilbert fancied for a moment that he saw Roderich smile, that small little thing he wore around everyplace now. It was something, but it wasn't the beaming grin he remembered from long ago. The asshole who had fathered Ludwig and himself had beaten that bit of Roderich out of him. Someday, Gilbert was going to get it back.

After a while, Gilbert's eyes shut, arms still wrapped around Roderich. So far, no more nightmares – nightmarish memories from the past, rather – had caused the distressed music to ring out around the room. With any luck, that meant they were done for now.

Eyes still closed, Gilbert blindly pulled the thin blanket over them, then rested his chin on Roderich's head once more. "Mine," he whispered once again, before drifting off as well.

III.

There was one plus about his old cell, Heracles quickly realized. Unlimited nap time. No one to bother you every ten minutes with questions about whether he was finished yet. What did Parazita not understand in the statement "Without an extending period of sleeping, I cannot get all the details," he did not know. It seemed perfectly clear to him.

Finally he was waking up from an hour nap, laying down on the very table he was chained to. All of the details he had been asked to get, he had. For better or for worse. He sat back on the chair.

It wasn't long before Parazita was sitting in front of him, having asked everyone else to clear the room. Luckily, she was not watching the security cameras, and with no one else there, neither could they. Otherwise, someone would have seen Roderich lying in Gilbert's bed, something that was always best to keep secret.

She was waiting. Heracles sighed and pulled up the first file, then brought up another from a stack. He laid them on the table, turned towards the Parasite.

"These two are travelling together," he murmured, sleepily. "Currently in Alaska, the city of Anchorage. Get him," Heracles pointed at a black-haired teenager, looking nearly in his twenties, "and the other will follow. It will not work the other way around."

Parazita nodded and sat back to type something into her cell phone. Dispatching units to Anchorage, no doubt. These two had been smart. None of the American creepers paid any sort of attention to Alaska.

After another moment, she looked back at Heracles, pressing her fingers together. Her lips were pursed slightly and it made the teenager angry – not an emotion he felt easily. How could she manage to steal so many of the gestures his mom had used, those comforting movements that had raised him? It was disquieting, made him want to do something violent. But violence wasn't his thing. It was _his_…

Green eyes wandered to the other file, set on his lap. Only slightly shakily, he brought it up and opened it, trying to look down at the picture without any sort of emotion. Unfortunately, so many emotions were brought up at just a peek of that face. Even if you couldn't see half of it.

There was a sigh, bringing Heracles' attention back to Parazita. "Surely you found him?" she asked, irritably. It was only partially asking, really. More demanding. More saying that she knew that the Dreamer had found him, and was waiting to get the damn information already, thank you very much.

He nodded, mind wheeling. It was the plan. To get as many people here as possible so they could all break out. Surely, adding him to the mix would make things that much easier. But, to do such a thing…

"Just outside of D.C.," Heracles managed, closing his eyes as he spoke. "Hitchhiking his way towards Los Angeles."

The thing in his mother's body stood, the chair she had been sitting in being pushed backwards abruptly. "You mean to say than an escapee from the very respectable European offices… Is coming right to us? That could only mean…"

Heracles opened his eyes to watch Parazita go pale, hands clutching the back of the chair and knuckles turning white. "He knows. He knows and he is coming here."

Instantly the phone was in her hand again, her thumbs typing frantically as she sent messages. Getting people to apprehend the Elemental. Then she stood back, slipping the little rectangle back into her pocket. She nodded at Heracles.

"Good work. You may sleep more now." Then she left, not even glancing at the security cameras.

Setting the files down on the ground, Heracles laid down on the table once more. He sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple. As if he could sleep after giving information like that. It wasn't anything he hadn't done before, but this was different. No one else would know it had been him to tell the creepers where they had been hiding.

But Sadik would know without one shred of doubt.

End: Chapter Five

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay. Okay, I know I said I was going to work on this after ATWCCD. But... I lied. I just had to do this. **

**And I'M SORRY there isn't as much action or plot moving and such here... I'm a sucker for fluffy romance? And PruAus. I can't ever seem to stay away from that. **

**But overall, I'm pleased with how this turned out. So... Review, please? I love getting them~**

**And a note to "whoisnotmyname": Gilbo and friends. Ohmygod. I died laughing at that xD**


	7. Chapter 6

Start: Chapter Six

I.

It took me a moment to figure out where I was once I woke up. All I could tell was that Gilbert had his arms around me – which was an oddity, for with Ludwig there we always slept more apart. Slowly, I remembered, groaning, and moved closer to Gilbert, burying my face in his chest. This small shift in position caused me to realize how much my muscles ached from the testing yesterday, and I groaned again, shutting my eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, my choice to move had woken Gilbert up as well, and he pulled back a little to look at my face. Unwillingly, I opened my eyes. He grinned at me.

"Feeling better, Roddy?" He pushed the hair off of his forehead, somehow managing to not have one _hint_ of sleep still in his red eyes. "I bet you are because I awesomely helped you out last night."

I rolled my eyes, not too shocked by how fast Gilbert got to his regular self. I settled myself to simply nodding, pulling out of his grip to sit up. "Thank you." I stood up with a wince – somehow I had ended up with a bruise on my leg from the previous day.

"Hey, where are you going?" Gilbert was also now sitting, leaning back on his arms with that not-really-trying look that he somehow managed to make work. A small pout played about his lips, and if I hadn't been able to see a camera watching us from the corner of the room, I would have wiped it away.

Sighing, I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm probably not supposed to be here. It is best to get back to my room as soon as possible."

He frowned a little now, leg shaking absentmindedly. A nervous habit he had always had and I don't think had ever noticed. "How often are we going to be able to see each other in this place?" he asked, and my gaze was drawn to a small flame around his index finger.

"Meals for certain, then I do not know how things work out here past that." I shifted from foot to foot, worried that someone was going to catch me in here.

For a moment, Gilbert frowned a bit more, then he nodded, sitting up straighter and resting an elbow on his knee. "You will come back here tonight." It was far from a request.

I bit my lip, shaking my head for a moment. Years of practice made me want to argue, to retort that he wasn't the boss of me and I was not about to do any such thing. But it only took a moment to find myself nodding.

Gilbert was smiling again, a self-satisfied sort of look. "Good. Don't worry; I'll make sure you don't get in trouble from it." His eyes flicked to the camera, then back.

I nodded again, then moved and opened the door, heading out before I could get distracted again. Glancing around, I slipped back into my shared room with Arthur, to my own bed. Sighing, I had just relaxed into the hard mattress when I could feel a bit of a glare boring down on me from above.

"Where the hell were you last night?" I opened my eyes with a sigh, looking up at a rather angry looking Arthur. "Do you have any idea how much trouble _I_ would be in if you were caught?"

"I just couldn't sleep," I murmured, turning over onto my side. Behind me, I could hear Arthur continuing to seethe.

"Breakfast in half an hour," he grumbled, stomping back off to his side of the room. I gave a small nod of response, turning onto my side and looking over at the wall next to me.

I found it unnerving that every surface in this building seemed to be pure white. After spending so much time hiding out in used barn houses and under bushes, I was used to browns and yellows and greens. The blue of the sky in the day, the velvety black of night. The white was unnatural. It reminded me of stories about mental wards.

Before I could settle more into the bed, I felt something hit my back. Glancing back, I blinked at two half-way unfolded pieces of black fabric. A black shirt and pants.

"Change of clothes. Standard uniform," Arthur grumbled, standing by his bed with his hands crossed across his chest. "They brought it for you while you were still gone. I said that you were in the bathroom to cover. Just be glad that there aren't any security cameras in there to check."

"Thanks," I murmured, sitting up and taking the clothes, then turning around again to slip them on. Inside, I felt relief that there really no cameras in the bathroom. They couldn't have seen anything from that room the previous night then.

It seemed there wasn't a pause from me finishing changing and the door opening, tense anger filling the room. The walk to the cafeteria was silent, an awkward combination of half blistering anger, half bright cheer as the twin Italians tried to balance each other out.

What happened once we got to the meal room seemed almost commonplace the second time, Antonio attacking Lovino with a hug and the resulting furious emotion affecting everyone but the attacker. This time I could see the two exchange a small kiss and noticed that where they stood was right under a camera, where they could not be seen. I blinked, surprised at the thought that had been put into this.

Lizzie was once again dishing meals, this time just plopping some toast on a plate for each person. She and Arthur put up idle chatter, talking more easily than any two that I had seen so far. Of course, when she came to me her whole demeanor changed, for reason that I still had yet to figure out.

"R-Roderich, hi," she got out, face blushing red. The girl started piling on pieces of toast, me watching confusedly as she put the fourth one on. Everyone else had only gotten two.

All of a sudden there was an arm around my shoulder. I glanced up to see Gilbert, a strained grin on his face as he looked at Elizabeta. I wasn't good at reading very many people, but I could clearly see in Gilbert's expression the message of _"back off," _directed in full force at the brunette girl.

Instantly, her chin jutted out and she held the tongs used to serve the toast like she would a weapon. "I don't think I've met you," she said, voice sweet, yet clearly dangerous.

"Gilbert. And I asked that Spanish guy over there," Gilbert jerked a thumb at Antonio, "Who exactly _you _are. So, Elizabeta. I would just like to remind you that it is not okay to covet things that belong to others. It would just be so _awesome_ if you would get that look out of your eyes and keep your thoughts away from what is mine." The grin was still in place on his face, eyes deadly serious. I looked between the two, mildly confused.

Elizabeta crinkled her nose a little, looking back at me. "You let him talk about you like this?" When I didn't give a reaction – not quite sure what exactly should be given as a reaction – she sighed and lowered the tongs. "Fine then. For now."

Gilbert made a face, then took my two extra pieces of toast. "Let's go, Roddy." His arm moved to my waist, holding me to his side as I was lead to a free table.

We ate in silence, painfully aware of the camera pointed right at the table. All around there was noise – Arthur yelling at Francis from a couple tables over, Antonio's laughter rising over the din, a couple instances of an easily placed "like, totally!" from Feliks. But it wasn't until Gilbert was done eating and I almost finished as well that conversation began between us.

"Where is Ludwig?" I asked, hoping that because I had not seen him yet here, that meant that he was not also captured. Gilbert's expression told me otherwise.

"In the infirmary, I think. They drugged him before bringing him in. Probably want to make sure that he'll wake up before they dump him someplace." Gilbert frowned a little. "Alfred is also here. This flying kid who thinks that it is possible to be as awesome as me."

I sighed. "Arthur won't like to hear that…" We lapsed into silence again as I thought about Ludwig being here. Surely it was a step up to how home would have been. But I couldn't help but think that it was our fault that he was in such a situation.

The silence continued, but now it was more widespread. It was like something had come across the whole room, causing every person in there to be quiet. Quite a feat, really, as there were a great deal of people there.

It was Gilbert who broke the silence, but instead of filling it as he would have while we were on the run, he turned to me and drummed his fingers against the table. "Play something, Roddy," he murmured, red eyes darting around at all of the people. He was as unused to having this many people our age about as I was.

After a moment, I nodded, keeping care not to look around as I rose up my hands. For fighting, it was easiest to push outward and simply blast a percussive sound from the palms of my hands. It was a much different technique when it came to my regular playing. Instead of blindly thrusting outwards, I conducted the air.

In my mind I could see a symphony orchestra. Throughout the years I had perfected actually seeing it before me by staring into the red pools of Gilbert's eyes. I found their particular color incredibly helpful for blocking everything else out. It wasn't long before my vision blurred and I could make out the red-tinged shapes of my mind's orchestra and choir.

I loved to start with violins and cellos, bringing out high, soaring melodies and booming baselines. Percussion followed, then the sound would build to the woodwinds and violas, then the brass. The last of the instruments would rise above the rest, my piano. Here was the part where I almost always faltered, missing the feeling of ivory keys beneath my fingers. But I persisted on to bring out the basses and altos of the choir. Finally, sopranos and tenors would join, the sounds of my full symphonic sound quivering in the air, bold and beautiful.

Just three measures before the end, I would cut off everything but the piano. I would guide this, my instrument of choice, into a few ending notes, then let my fingers close, hovering in the air for a moment before my hands dropped, and I would accept the applause in my head. A little audience that I created along with my orchestra.

But as I blinked my eyes back into focus, I found that there was no imaginary audience clapping for me. The other mutties in the room were clapping, smiling, looking stunned in some cases. True, there were some more enthusiastic than others, but looking around I didn't find one with still hands.

Then there was Gilbert, crushing me into a hug. I could practically feel the grin on his face and I knew that I had done my best work yet. For a moment, I allowed myself to blush red, face hidden in Gilbert's chest. But the color on my cheeks quickly died and I stood, gave a small bow, and sat back down.

It had felt good to conduct again. It had felt good to be acknowledged.

Something drew my attention from the side of the room. There, in the shadow of the door, were three figures. The two older ones watched me with interest, gazes fixed on me in a way most uncomfortable. Yet my gaze was drawn to a boy a bit older than me, hands cuffed in front of him, shoulder held in a vice grip by the one lady of the group.

There was something off about his green eyes… They seemed almost to be staring right through me. But his mouth started to move, mouthing something. I squinted my eyes, desperate to catch whatever it was he was trying to say, somehow knowing it was for me.

He tried three times, and only on the third did I get it. As the boy looked at me, he was carefully forming the words _"watch out."_

II.

It wasn't rare for Roderich to be tired after conducting, so Gilbert wasn't surprised when he was quiet afterwards. He didn't notice the brunette get distracted by the people by the door, instead busy looking around the room with raised eyebrows and an arm around Roderich's waist, in case anyone got ideas after being so impressed.

Luckily, word seemed to have spread that Gilbert was an Elementalist, and their combined fear of the show that Roderich had put on in the arena the previous day and this knowledge put them off from approaching. Especially when those red eyes were glaring around and practically daring anyone to even try.

In school, Gilbert had been known to be a relatively social person, but saying that had been a while ago would have been an understatement. After four years of only two people for company, he was not particularly overjoyed or comfortable about the amount of people around them. As far as he was concerned, they could damn well keep their distance.

Yet someone _did_ come up, the Spanish kid that he had asked Elizabeta's name from. Antonio. Least, Gilbert was assuming that he was Spanish. He'd been wandering California enough to pick up on a few words and knew just as well as the next person that "amigo" was meant friend. In Spanish.

It was obvious that Antonio was intending to talk to Roderich first, but Gilbert raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, effectively getting his point across in saying that no, everything was going through him first. The cheerful brunette just shrugged and turned to the albino.

"I just wanted to say that it has been a while since we had such entertainment here. Arthur used to put on shows, but the same fairies get a little boring after a while." Antonio smiled, rolling his shoulders in a shrug. "If your novio would like to play more often, we'd all like that very much."

Gilbert glanced over at Roderich, who appeared to be looking down at the toast still left on his plate with disgusted disdain. For a moment, a smile went across the albino's face, real and gentle, not his normal cocky flash of teeth. No matter how bad things had gotten while on the run, Roderich still had his standards with meals. He had to be the one to pick out the food because if he didn't like it, he wasn't going to eat it.

Then he let the moment pass and gently nudged the brunette next to him. "Ey, how about it Roddy? You want to play more for them sometimes?"

Roderich looked up, blinking his violet eyes confusedly. Gilbert guessed that he still wasn't entirely recovered from the trancelike state he seemed to go into when conducting. "Ah, sure. Of course," Roderich said quietly, nodding a little then turning back to look at the toast with a sigh.

Gilbert turned back to Antonio with a grin and a nod. "He says that would be awesome."

Antonio laughed, the edges of his green eyes crinkling a little. "A bit of a loose translation, no?" He looked between the two, then sat down across the table from them and rested his chin on the palms of both hands.

A little unnerved by Antonio's stare, no matter how friendly he seemed, Gilbert shifted in his seat and tightened his hold on Roderich. "Whatcha looking at?" he asked, absentmindedly calling up a bit of flame and playing with it around the fingers of his free hand.

Beaming, Antonio nodded between the two of them. "The adorableness! Couples are just so cute!"

Gilbert glanced nervously at the camera, glad that it was facing so it couldn't see their side of the table. Following his glance, Antonio laughed again.

"Oh, don't worry about that! We knocked the sound out of that one _ages _ago." He turned back with a wink. "Alfred was a big help with those things."

Looking slightly relieved, Gilbert laughed. "So they can't hear us? Brilliant!" He grinned and leaned forward, eyes wandering around the other people in the room. "So, if you like couples so much, are you one?"

Antonio's smiled broadened and he nodded, enthusiastically. "Of course!" He twisted in his seat, then stood up and bounced over to Lovino, dragging him over to the table and plopping him down. "This is my little tomato!"As he radiated excited happiness, the Italian next to him glared at Roderich and Gilbert.

It was then that a creeper came in, pressing a button on a wall. The room filled with a loud buzzing noise for a second, then everyone starting filing out. Antonio bounced to the balls of his feet.

"See you later, amigos! We are all looking forward to your testing, Gilbert!" Then the Spaniard was gone, dragging Lovino along with him.

When the last of the other had left the room, Roderich stood, tugging lightly on Gilbert's hand. Grinning, the albino got up and brushed a bit of the other's hair off of his forehead. "Time to go," he announced, eyes flicking to the camera and back, then letting Roderich's hand drop and gesturing for him to leave the room with a twitch of his head.

They exited, aware of the creeper who had hit the buzzer following them at a distance. Everyone else had already vanished from the hall, but peeking into doors, most people were in the rooms of others. Taking this as permission, the two went into Gilbert's room.

For a while they just sat on the bed, staring off into the distance. The silence was normal and familiar, not uncomfortable in the least. Every now and again, Roderich's thoughts would translate to a few disjointed notes in the air, commonplace to the both of them.

At some point, their hands joined, and a bit after that, Roderich was leaning against Gilbert, eyes closed. This changed into them both laying down, Roderich's head on Gilbert's chest as he listened to the albino's heartbeat. Despite their situation, the two felt content as they were.

But after a while, the peace was broken by a couple firm knocks on the door. Gilbert turned his head, blinking in surprise at Ludwig standing in the doorway, arms crossed across his chest. He nudged Roderich, who glanced over, then quickly sat up.

"As if I didn't know," Ludwig shook his head a little, then jerked his head down the hall. "Come on."

III.

Heracles had known the instant that Sadik had stepped foot in the building, of course. He could feel himself anticipating the arrival of his old… Could he say friend, really? Ally, enemy… There were so many names he could give the masked Turk, names that made him seethe and blush, but he wasn't sure friend was one of them.

Yet he hadn't gone to see the masked teen the first thing. He had been lost in one of his dreams, almost legitimately frightened by what he was seeing. Not for himself, of course, no one ever seemed to dare to go against him. But…

His head jolted up when Sadik was lead into the room. It had been decided that he was not going to go into general populace, instead staying under constant one-on-one surveillance, like Heracles himself. Loinen planned to watch him, despite Heracles' insistence that the male Parasite was an idiot and not at all qualified to keep tabs on Sadik. It was almost an insult to his old… Acquaintance.

Sadik's eyes fell on Heracles, and it was not the customary anger he was expecting. Certainly not the rage for looking at the one who had turned him in. Instead the boy shook Loinen's grip off his shoulder and walked over to sit across from Heracles, stretching out his legs.

"Yo, brat," he said in greeting, flashing a grin. "How's it been?"

Heracles stared at Sadik, then shrugged. "Just got out of eight years in solitary. And you?"

"Escaped from general populace in Europe, but you would already know that." He leaned across the table, clasping his hands in front of him. "And they think they got me fair and square here. Ha! I'm just here for business of my own. Namely helping you, really." His face grew serious, an expression that caused Heracles' blood to freeze.

"You have news…" Heracles whispered, wetting his lips. "On someone I don't keep track of."

A nod in answer. Sadik's eyes danced around, making sure they weren't being overheard. No, everyone was drawn towards the cameras. Heracles knew that Gilbert's test was starting and all the creepers were excited to see that.

When Sadik spoke, his voice was almost inaudible and Heracles had to lean forward to hear. "Limatik. His host body is wearing out."

Heracles stopped breathing for a moment, then he closed his eyes and regained composure. "So he is searching for a new host…"

"Yeah. And he's searching here. Because he heard stories about someone that fits his requirements newly come in."

Heracles thought back to what he had seen in his lasted dream and clenched his fists, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. "Then we need to move faster than I thought…" His eyes drooped as a dream demanded attention, pressing at the corners of his mind.

_Dark hands reaching for the running boy… Red balls of fire screaming hatred and stopping the hands, but letting everything else crumble… A contract and agreement with as much worth as his own with Parazita… A young boy crying at the side of a motionless form…_

Shaking his head to clear it, Heracles looked up at Sadik in alarm. The masked face looked impassively back at him, used to the comings and goings of the Greek's visions.

"We need to rally them, Sadik… Soon. Or it will all be for nothing. And I am not allowing another to be sacrificed to their greed."

A flash of teeth and a nod. "What did you think I came for, brat? Start tonight."

Heracles bowed his head, brown curls flopping into his face. He had hoped for more time… Hoped to have the water Elemental here to, when he started. Not having him under supervision was dangerous. But even more so…

"Yes. We will start tonight."

End: Chapter Six

* * *

**Well. This has been done for a while. But when it comes to putting it up, I have been a bit lazy. **

**ANYWAYS, this chapter introduces some very important aspects of plot. Catch them if you can~ And while you're at it, please read and review! It would be most appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 7

Start: Chapter Seven

I.

Gilbert was going through his testing with an ease that obviously was not normal. The audience members were watching him in shock, surprised at how fast he got through each and every round. I wasn't very shocked myself. If you have a huge wall of fire chasing you around, it's pretty automatic to run.

This being the case, it quickly came to be me and him facing each other. I was at the end of the line, having won the spot from Arthur the previous day. My statistics were read out by Kiku – Roderich, Sensory, sound, 20 – and I was quite aware of everyone else in the room watching with interest.

Flashing me a smile, Gilbert raised his hand. However, instead of the fire that I was expecting, he merely beckoned me over to him. Confused, I walked closer, trying to ignore the whisperings that had started up.

When I got within two feet of him, Gilbert raised his hands higher and a ring of fire surrounded us. The heat caused me to move close to Gilbert, and he caught hold of my wrist. A sharp tug and I was up against him, his red eyes staring down at me. Slightly startled by the movement, I heard the sharp shrill of a piccolo shatter the air.

"You are going to surrender, aren't you?" he said quietly, fingers tight around my wrist. "I don't want to burn you any."

I shook my head a little. "Gilbert, that isn't the point… We are supposed to actually fight…"

Gilbert laughed, moving his hand to intertwine his fingers with mine. "What is the point? We know what would happen. Just surrender to me, kleine prinzessin." His eyes were looking into mine, and I felt that I would be swallowed in the red.

"No, Gilbert, I can't…"

He cut off my words, pressing his lips against mine. His free hand went to the small of my back, pulling me more towards him. Gently, he guided my mouth open and pressed his tongue inside, controlling everything completely.

And me having mobile background music, a string orchestra started playing some long, drawn out high notes. I rather doubted anyone outside of the little ring of fire missed that.

Gilbert pulled away, smirking, and as I regained my breath, the music faded. "Surrender, Roddy. I know you don't want to fight me."

I didn't want to fight him. At all. Of course I knew that he would win, that much was obvious. Yet still I shook my head, almost a reflex.

Now there were kisses going down my throat, here and there a bit of teeth grazing my skin. The orchestra returned, my knees growing weak. Gilbert's hand pressed gently against my back, pulling me flush against him.

Then the mouth was at my ear, nipping at the top of it lightly. Lower it moved, Gilbert whispering to me. "Do as I say, Roddy… You belong to me."

I tried to keep the music under control, letting my head fall onto Gilbert's shoulder. "I surrender," tumbled out of my mouth, and I pressed closer to my brother to keep from the heat of the fires. Finally, I managed to stop the instruments. They quieted without complaint. Everyone had heard them now anyhow.

"Awesome!" I knew Gilbert was grinning, and his arms moved to wrap around my waist and hug me to him. "That's my prinzessin." He kissed the top of my head.

"I'm not a princess…" I protested, involuntarily clutching at him as he pulled away. He pushed on my shoulders, forcing me onto one knee.

"Sure you are! Now, you tell everyone who won, Roddy." Gilbert waved one hand, letting the fire dissipate. Glancing back at the bleachers, I bit my lip. Everyone was staring at us, and my skin grew hot with embarrassment.

Slowly, I looked over at Kiku. "Gilbert won," I said, before getting back to my feet. There was silence in the room as people stared at us, appearing confused. Then everyone was filing out, murmuring quiet congratulations to Gilbert. A couple of them had shiny, red burns on their skin, which Gilbert pretended not to be pleased about.

Ludwig came up to us with arms crossed over his chest. His blue eyes –piercing and clear, just like our grandfather's – looked between us with an appearance of knowing. I guess he actually had known for a long time

"Good job, Gilbert," was all he said before he left the room, being the good boy and heading towards his own room. Well, rather he would have if a masked boy I hadn't seen around so far hadn't appeared right then.

This boy leaned against the doorframe almost lazily, hands shoved into the pockets of the black pants he wore. Over his eyes and nose was a white mask, the string of it disappearing into his brown hair. He seemed almost amused as he looked at me and Gilbert, hardly paying any attention to Ludwig, stopped before him.

"So he was right. As always." Rolling his eyes, he glanced into the hallway, then right back at us. "After lights out tonight. Boys' bathroom. Everyone needs to be there, and don't be late."

With those words he was gone, sidling off the hallway with that same lazy attitude.

I looked up at Gilbert, taking hold of his hand quietly. There was a bright grin on his face, even larger than that he had worn after the battles. After a moment, he turned his eyes to me and squeezed my hand lightly.

"Secret meeting in the mutant prison? When did we end up in a Hollywood movie?"

II.

Gilbert was so excited about the idea of a meeting that was almost definitely against the rules, he had made sure that he and Roderich were the first ones there. He kept hold of his half-brother's hand in a relaxed way, leaning against the wall. Still feeling elation from his testing, there was a sparkle in his eyes and he was humming under his breath. As he had expected, after only a few bars of him humming, Roderich added some background music. This made him grin and lean over to kiss the brunette's cheek.

It was then that the door opened and Ludwig came in. This seemed to open a floodgate for the rest of the mutties, the room quickly becoming filled with people. Even the girls were there, looking slightly out of place but not seeming to mind.

Idle chatter was put up, couples emerging as they shared kisses they normally could not. It was a good twenty minutes before the masked stranger – damn, this really was a movie! Gilbert thought happily – pushed open the door, glancing around, then stepping aside to allow another in. Together they stood, the masked one taller and resting against the wall lazily.

Gilbert could feel a jolt of surprise from Roderich, and looked at him for a moment. Violet eyes were staring at the other boy with confused recognition and a small frown. Nudging his boyfriend to try and get his attention back, Gilbert was immensely frustrated when it didn't work. He pouted some, looking back at the two newcomers.

The second boy walked into the center of the room, looking around at all of them with almost glassy green eyes. Then he looked over at Gilbert and Roderich, a small, sad smile on his face.

"Thank you all for coming. I know there are risks. For myself, I am taking a lot merely venturing out of the view of the creepers. I can thank Sadik for picking the lock on my handcuffs and making this meeting possible." The boy's voice was soft and fluid. Gilbert watched intently as his green eyes flicked to the masked one. Sadik, then.

"As for introductions, none of them are necessary. I know each and every one of you. I know your stories, your triumphs, your defeats. I know how you all came to be here, and what your lives were like before. I know the full extents of your powers, boundaries so far so unreachable, you have no idea what they are yourself."

There were murmurs at this, confused and perhaps a little scared. Gilbert clenched his fist and opened it again, looking at his hand. There could be more done?

"As for whom I am, my name is Heracles Karpusi. I am a Dreamer, a type of muttie that is found only once in every generation. I can tell the past, present, and every probable strand of the future. For the past several years, I have been chained in the back rooms of this building, used as a way to find all of you – yes you. I am the reason many of you were found."

At a sudden outburst of anger, Heracles raised up a hand. "Peace, please. I had my reasons. We can get out of here. We all can. But not without working together. That is why I needed as many as I could here. And I can tell you that the time to move is soon."

The room slowly quieted, a few people leaning over to others and whispering in their ears. Several mutties looked over at Heracles in obvious mistrust, angered by the idea that they wouldn't have been caught by this seemingly omnipotent teenager. As for Gilbert, he just watched Heracles levelly, thoughtful.

"I think you should explain," the albino said after a moment, absentmindedly running his thumb along Roderich's hand. "What do you mean, the time to move?"

Gilbert met Heracles' green stare as it turned to him, eyebrows raised slightly. After a moment, a small smile curled around the brunette's face, and he nodded.

"I mean that we are going to get out of here. All of us. But it will take complete and total dedication from every individual in this room." Heracles' eyes ran around the room again, lighting on some of the more powerful there. "Dedication and lack of resistance to certain rules of my own. And then we will be free within the month."

"And what are these rules that we need to follow?" Arthur asked from across the room, arms crossed over his chest. Gilbert could see that he was pointedly ignoring a Francis who was trying to drape himself over him as provocatively as possible. He laughed under his breath and glanced over at Roderich, entertaining himself briefly with how his half-brother would react if he tried that.

"All very simple." Heracles was looking right at Gilbert again. "Anything that happens, the information goes right to Sadik. You don't tell anyone apart of those in this room what is going on. Everything you are told to do you do without question. Do not raise any suspicions."

For a moment, Gilbert just stared at Heracles. How could he be sure that he could trust him? The guy openly admitted to being the cause of many of the mutties' imprisonment. That didn't scream trustworthy.

But eventually he nodded a little and moved to wrap his arm around Roderich's waist and pull him closer. He could feel his half-brother looking up at him in confusion, but didn't return the look.

Heracles eventually turned away, announcing to everyone that they would be forewarned of the next meeting and that they may go. But before Gilbert could pull Roderich out of the room, they were approached by the Dreamer.

"I'm sure neither of you have any doubt that with the strength of your abilities, you will be very important for all of this." Gilbert tensed as he realized Heracles was speaking directly to him and tightened his grip on Roderich.

"I need to give you a warning," Heracles continued. "This is going to be very dangerous for both of you. I need you to promise me that no matter what, you won't give us up."

"I'm no friend of the creepers. I won't speak to them, you can be sure. But I'm keeping Roddy out of this." Gilbert's voice was decisive, eyes narrowed as he looked at Heracles. "You can have my full support, but the most involvement he'll have is getting out of here."

Gilbert was already dragging Roderich out the door when he heard a small sigh behind him. Turning his head, he noticed Heracles shaking his head with a sad smile.

"I wish that was a choice that he had," the other said quietly before walking over to Sadik. Gilbert frowned angrily and quickly left the room, holding onto Roderich's hand tightly. What a disappointing secret meeting.

III.

Anyone other than Heracles would have been amazed that the creepers hadn't noticed his absence. But of course, he had known exactly what to do to have that outcome. So he and Sadik slipped back where they had been before just as unnoticed as their leaving had been.

The creepers were preoccupied, too busy to care about the two teenagers they were supposed to keep under watch. It was amazing – and would be completely entertaining given any other circumstance – but they were all cleaning. Every last one of them, down to the Parasites. It was an extremely strange thing to see them all running about the back rooms as if their lives depended on it.

Despite knowing why they were in such a frenzy, Heracles let the strange scene bring a smile to his face. It certainly was convenient, after all. And he could find some simple joy in seeing them on their knees, scrubbing floors.

An alert flashed through his mind and he quickly turned his head away, focusing on it. Sucking in a lungful of air, he looked at Sadik out of the corner of his eyes and nodded. The masked muttie sat back with an ill-concealed groan, rubbing his forehead.

Hardly a moment after this, the intelligence report appeared on the largest screen in the room. Parazita was instantly at it, talking rapidly into the speaker and waving her hands around to get the creepers to stop and get rid of the cleaning supplies. Loinen was almost instantly at her side, tucking in his shirt. He still looked shabby, in Heracles' opinion. Hardly suited for his host body.

Then there was a rush as everyone got into their usual positions. Sadik leaned back in his chair and propped his legs up on the table, glaring at the door. Heracles could hear his companion grumbling, obscene insults spilling out under his breath.

Then without space to think about anything else, another person entered the room. Heracles assumed that the body must have at one time been handsome, but now it looked just as he knew spent Parasite hosts did. Skin grey, hair falling out, and bruises all over it. A surprisingly young body, for a Parasite, being just over twenty.

"Limatik!" Parazita said, apparently happy, rushing over to him and wringing her hands – no, Heracles remembered. His mother's hands. "Oh, you took us all by such surprise!"

Sadik snorted, unintentionally bringing Limatik's attention to him from Parazita. He quickly ducked his head, and Heracles remembered that Limatik was the Parasite leader of the European containment facility. It was him that Sadik had escaped from.

But after a moment, Limatik turned away again. "I am sure that I did." His voice was still smooth, despite the wearing out of the body. Heracles thought bitterly that this meant he had more time left than expected.

Parazita's voice turned to simpering sympathy. "Oh, I am so sorry about your host. He was such a handsome one, too! And showing so much promise to last longer. What a pity, what a pity."

"It is a fact of life that they fade," Limatik said softly, eyes sweeping around the room. "I have come here to you for this fact, you know. There is no one in my own land who would fill all of my requirements. I was hoping that I could do better here."

"Oh, of course! We have quite the selection here, as I'm sure you will find! You can have any one, absolutely any one!" Parazita went back to the screen, quickly bringing up information on all of the known mutties in America. Heracles was sickened by how quickly she turned into a suck-up school girl around this powerful Parasite. Looking at Loinen, even he looked annoyed by it.

Limatik didn't immediately join Parazita, eyes wandering over the room again. "Good enough number of creepers…" he muttered, just loud enough for Heracles to hear. "Keeping good watch on certain troublesome children…" his eyes were lighted on Sadik, a sneer on his grey face. "And the Dreamer. Quite the trophy."

Heracles met the eyes that turned to him, sitting tall in his chair and looking bored. It was with a smile that he saw Limatik turn away first, heading over to Parazita and the pictures and asking her to please only show the Sensory mutties, as that was one of his requirements.

Looking over at Sadik, Heracles worried his lip. He quickly went over the possible futures he had seen, making sure he was aware of the course it would certainly take from here. The masked muttie reached over and patted his hand gently.

"They'll trust you in time," Sadik said softly. "You are doing your best. And soon we'll be out of here. They'll see."

Heracles gave a small smile, nodding. "Right. Of course." He turned his head away, taking a deep breath. He just couldn't be sure that everything would go the right way. People had a tendency of making stupid choices. And with whom he had to place his trust in and exactly the situation _there_.

He quickly looked up as he heard Limatik tell Parazita to stop the pictures and looked at the screen. "Him. He'd work perfectly." And there, on the screen, was the picture of Roderich Edelstein that Heracles knew would be there.

"See, Gilbert?" he said quietly, shaking his head. "He doesn't have the choice to be inactive."

Sadik looked over at the screen with a look of polite indifference. "So it was him after all. You've been right so far. It'll continue."

"I hope so…" Heracles whispered. "I really hope so."

End: Chapter Seven

* * *

**It's been a while. I know. I'm sorry D: But school is a bitch... And here you go! I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter, especially after this wait. Please review? Less than three~**


	9. Chapter 8

Start: Chapter Eight

I.

True to his word, Gilbert had taken care of the camera in his room. I saw its melted carcass the instant I stepped inside, hardly surprised. It wasn't likely that he would have meant anything else, because how else was he going to get rid of it? In a way, it was greatly amusing. However, I knew well enough that it wasn't something the creepers were going to overlook very long.

As for Gilbert himself, his excitement about the meeting had turned into a foul mood. I knew why, of course. It seemed like he was growing more and more protective of me, and it was obvious he didn't want me involved in anything.

"I'm not helpless you know," I said quietly, sitting on the bed while Gilbert paced the room. He turned towards me, red eyes flashing briefly.

"I want what is best for you, Roddy. I'm not having you dragged into some dangerous scheme that might not work." Again the pacing resumed.

I sighed, picking at a loose thread at the hem of my shirt. "I'm going to help, Gil. He said that we all need to work together. That includes me. You don't get to choose whether or not I am a part of this."

Hearing the tromp of feet stop, I looked up to see Gilbert staring at me, look in his eyes akin to anger. I frowned some, not having ever seen that look directed at me. It was an unnerving experience, to say the very least.

"Roderich." There was a forced calm in his voice that I instantly didn't like. "I will not have you put in danger again. I will not have anything happen to you because I couldn't prevent it ever again. You will do what I say and stay out of this."

"I can take care of myself," I insisted, trying to get him to see. "Next to you, I am the most powerful one here. Nothing is going to happen to me."

Gilbert walked over to me, leaning down and moving the hair off my face. His eyes were gentle once again, something that I noticed with relief.

"Please Roddy. Just let me take care of things. Stay out of this. For me?"

I closed my eyes, sighing quietly. Gilbert was treating me so differently from normal. I was inclined to blame it on my capture. Knowing Gilbert, he made it out to be all his fault. And now he was trying to make up for things.

"But what if I don't want you doing anything either?" I asked quietly. "I don't want anything happening to you. I could just as easily say that you should stay out of everything. Would you listen to me then?"

There was an exasperated sigh, and I looked up to see Gilbert shaking his head. When he spoke again, his words were slow, as if explaining something to a child.

"I am not in any danger, Roddy. No one can so much as touch me. No one wants to risk getting burned. It is far more dangerous for you. Sure, you can blast people away. But you have limits and weaknesses that anyone can use against you."

"You have weaknesses too," I responded, absentmindedly reaching over to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. "Don't try to tell me that you don't. If I am not taking a part in this, then neither are you."

Gilbert's eyes flashed and he was instantly on his feet again, staring down at me. "No. I am going to get you out of here. I am going to do this so that you don't spend the rest of your life in this place."

"Then don't tell me that I can't help too."

Making an angry noise in the back of his throat, Gilbert started the pacing again, but this time was practically stomping from side to side. I sighed, standing up and stopping him with a hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes as he looked back at me.

"I am going to go back to my own room now. Come and get me when you've calmed down." I leaned forward and brushed my lips against Gilbert's cheek, then turned and left him, still feeling his eyes boring into me.

Returning to my own room and Arthur was hardly a step up. The blonde boy was in a state of rage, practically throwing a tantrum. He sat in the middle of the floor, lights turned off, chanting under his breath and creating the most fearsome illusions I had seen yet.

It took him a moment to realize that I had returned, and another moment to grudgingly stop whatever he had been doing. When asked about it, he only replied that he had been casting a spell to "smash the bloody bastards into a pulp."

Ten minutes later, when he was mostly calmed down, we sat across from each other on our beds. Arthur crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the ground, a scowl on his face.

"What is wrong?" I asked hesitantly, still afraid that talking would set him off again.

"Damn git got himself caught again," he muttered, eyes narrowing drastically. "Again! And I only got to see him for a moment! They shut him off in the room across the hall and blocked me from going to talk to him. They say I helped him escape. Bastards all of them!"

Piecing together what Arthur was saying, I gathered that he had found out that Alfred had been caught again. I looked at him with new sympathy, gathering that he wasn't just being crazy.

"Well, I am sure you will see him at breakfast, ja?" was all I could think of to say. Judging by the huff that Arthur made shortly after, it was far from enough.

Arthur pulled his legs to his chest and continued to stare at the ground, scowl slowly melting into a frown. "Last time I saw him… Right before he left… He told me that we'd be together again when we were finally free. I really hoped that would be the case." He sighed quietly, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Now we are still here. He is so close I would only have to go a few feet to touch him and to feel him holding onto me again… But they won't let me see him."

Feeling as if I was intruding on a personal moment, I looked away, twisting the blanket in my hands. "Ah…"

"You're lucky, you know? Gilbert's first thought is always you. I can tell." Arthur was looking at me, green eyes watching me carefully, as if trying to make me understand. "Alfred is amazing. He's a bloody idiot, but he's a great guy. He's always thinking about the common good, though… What would be best for everyone." There was a sigh, and Arthur looked away. "I know it sounds awful. But I just wish that I would be more important than everyone else."

There was a pause, silence in the room as I thought this over. It was true, I realized. Even though recently it had been frustrating me, Gilbert always put me above the needs of everyone else. It was sweet, I decided. And perhaps I didn't mind it. I smiled, understanding now that it was Gilbert's way of showing how much he did love me.

"I don't think it sounds awful," I responded finally. "It isn't anything unreasonable. But maybe you aren't giving him enough credit. Maybe if you looked close enough, you'll see he's doing everything for you."

Slowly, Arthur looked back up, just the hint of hope in his eyes. "You think so?"

"I do." I smiled some, trying to get Arthur to believe me, even though I had never actually met the boy in question.

It was then that the creeper appeared to tell us lights out and we lay down in bed. I could hear that Arthur was quickly asleep, and I was glad that I had managed to calm him. Yet that reminded me that it had been a while since I had left Gilbert, and he still had yet to come and get me. I sighed softly, shaking my head and closing my eyes.

I'd have to tell him he was right, I decided. So long as nothing horrible happened, I'd stay out of everything. After all, it was rather sweet that he was being so protective. And it wasn't like I enjoyed violence of any sort.

With this worked out, I turned onto my side and fell asleep, figuring that I might as well get some rest while I waited for Gilbert.

II.

To say that Gilbert was not happy about Roderich leaving the room was a bit of an understatement. For a while he stared at the door, fully expecting his half-brother to come back with an apology. He entertained himself with thoughts of pulling the brunette to him and kissing him senseless until he could convince him that he needed to stay out of stupid dangerous things.

But the time passed and Roderich didn't return. For a while, Gilbert took to pacing again, muttering under his breath about stupid prissy aristocrats insisting on being stubborn and not doing what was best for them. Eventually, that lead to him trying to burn down the walls. Failing, but trying nonetheless.

When the creeper came to call lights out, Gilbert once again entertained fantasies. This time of burning the unwelcome man to a crisp and going on to do the same to every non-muttie in the building. Then name himself king of all the mutties, as he had set them free. They would bow to him and he would grin, holding Roderich to him. The best part was when he got to turn to his half-brother and say an "I told you so," because really, he had taken care of everything.

Instead, he let the creeper move on, unaware to how close he had been to death. Gilbert went back to trying to burn down the walls.

It was over an hour before he went and sat on the bed, glaring around himself. The plaster seemed to be fireproof. None of his fires had lasted. It was very unfortunate and had only burned off some of his anger and exasperation.

He lay down and prepared to wait out the night in a state of sullen anger when the door opened. Slowly, he turned his head, then sat up, surprised to see Alfred there. So he had gotten out of the infirmary.

The blue-eyed boy looked how Gilbert believed puppies would if they were sad. His bottom lip was quivering and his eyes were wide. Without being invited in and clearly not realizing the foul mood that the other was sporting, Alfred walked up to Gilbert and sat down on the bed next to him.

"You've got to help me! I'm dying here!"

Gilbert raised his eyebrows. "Haven't I helped you enough?" he muttered. "Helping you tends to end in disaster."

"This won't! It's nothing too bad, I promise!" Alfred's lip pushed out more and he stared at Gilbert imploringly. "I just need you to distract the guard outside Arthur's room. They won't let me see him!"

Groaning, Gilbert lay down again. "I don't do relationship troubles. Go get some other sucker to deal with your problems."

Then Alfred was in the air, floating above Gilbert and staring down at him. Somehow his eyes had gotten bigger. "But isn't your half-brother in there? You're dating him, right? Don't you want to see him?"

Gilbert rolled onto his side. "I'm trying to sleep. Go away. People don't get this hot from being sleep-deprived." He grinned for a moment at his little joke. Ha. He was hot. Like the fire.

There was silence for a moment – blessed silence – and then Alfred started up again. "Ah, I see. Did you guys have a fight? Is that's what's the matter? Hey, is something burning in here?"

Rubbing his forehead, Gilbert sat up again, forcing Alfred to stop hovering above him. "Yeah, okay. We had a differing of opinion. Now will you just go away and let me sleep this off? You'll see Arthur in the morning."

"But Gilbert…" Alfred hung his head, sniffling a little. "I haven't seen him in weeks, Gilbert. You know how you felt when you were away from Roderich? That was just a day! Can't you help me? Please?"

Gilbert stood, rubbing his eyes and muttering under his breath. He did want to see Roderich, even though he was still a bit stung about being left. Plus, it would get Alfred to leave him alone. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

Alfred instantly brightened, bouncing to his feet and running to the door. "Just distract the guard! I'm sure you can figure it out!" He turned back to Gilbert and beamed at him. "Thank you so, so much! You're awesome!"

"Of course I'm awesome. There should never have been a doubt." Gilbert opened up the door and headed to wear he knew Roderich's room was. There was a guard there, which he didn't remember from before. Frowning, he shook his head. That was a question for later.

"You owe me, just so you know," he muttered. "They'll know it was me."

"Well, how would they know?" Alfred asked, skipping around an inch above the ground.

"They will." Gilbert stepped closer to the guard and snapped his fingers, grabbing hold of the fire ball that resulted and chucking it down the hall. As expected, the guard took off after it to investigate. "Let's go."

Alfred gaped after the fire ball, then took off to the room, pulling the door open and disappearing inside. Gilbert followed at a slower pace, deciding that he was going to have Roderich come back to his room and planning what he would say to him.

"Ow! You bloody git!" could be heard from the room. Gilbert was glad it didn't echo down the hall, and allowed himself some amusement. So that was the greeting that Alfred had been so keen to get?

The scene that greeted him when he went inside the doorway was pretty much what Gilbert had been expecting. An Alfred oblivious to the grumbling Arthur was hugging the latter tightly and smiling like a fool. A green illusion was floating by the video camera, keeping anyone watching from seeing what was going on. And Roderich, ever the deep sleeper, was passed out on the other bed.

Ignoring the other two, Gilbert walked over to Roderich and looked down at him, smiling a little. If he listened closely enough, he could hear the soft sound of a solo violin echoing around the room. Roderich was having a good dream, it seemed.

At loathe to ruin such a rare thing, Gilbert leaned down and kissed his half-brother's forehead, then gently picked him up and headed back towards his own bedroom. Laying the other down on the bed, Gilbert came up next to him and wrapped his arms around the brunette. Just as he was about to fall asleep as well, the door opened again.

Cursing quietly, Gilbert sat up slightly and glared at the door. His glare slowly faded as he saw it was the masked guy from before. Sadik, he remembered.

The door closed with the newcomer inside, walking quietly over to the bed. Gilbert met Sadik's gaze as the brunette looked over who all was there. He watched as the other nodded, stepping back a little.

"Don't let him out of your sight," Sadik said softly. "Don't let anyone take him from you for even a second. And I know you don't trust Heracles, but listen to him. He can make sure you don't lose those you love."

"What are you talking about? Is someone going after Roderich?" Gilbert started to panic, arms tightening around his half-brother.

Sadik sighed softly, clearly not about to tell Gilbert anything. "Just keep an eye on him, got it?" With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Gilbert frowned, looking over at the asleep Roderich. He sighed and brushed the hair off the other's forehead, then put both arms around him again. Very slowly, he calmed down enough to sleep, pressed up against his boyfriend and bothered by nightmares of dark shadows with claws stealing him from him.

III.

Heracles' opinion of Limatik only worsened the more he saw of him. The man sat around and demanded that everyone else do things for him, staring down his nose at them and overall looking annoyed and haughty. Loinen seemed to despise him, asking at one point how long the other would be staying with them. The answer received was apparently too long, for Loinen sat back with a bit of a groan, earning an angry glare from Parazita.

The good thing with having this other Parasite around was that no one was paying as much attention to Heracles and Sadik. This turned out to be very beneficial, as Heracles had to have Sadik go and deliver a message to Gilbert. The knowledge that Gilbert and Roderich were apart was worrisome, to say the least.

Of course, he knew that neither of them had heard Parazita order the room that Roderich and Arthur shared to have a guard at it, to make sure that the former didn't leave. But it had been unexpected that they had been apart in the first place. The disagreement wasn't a thread of time he had seen.

Heracles knew that Sadik was returning just before he did. He watched quietly as the other distracted the guards, shifting the placement of the ground just a bit so that he had a clear path. Then he was back in his seat, feet propped up on the table.

"Well, got your message through. They were together again, in the right room, just like you said. You know, sometimes it scares even me when you know everything." Sadik stretched and yawned, shadowed eyes remaining alert behind his mask.

Shrugging a little, Heracles shook his head. "I don't know everything. I simply know a lot of things. I especially don't know everything when awake. Much easier to focus while I sleep."

"Whatever," Sadik muttered, kicking his feet away from the table and flicking a hand to stretch the ground and easily bring the chair back on all four legs.

There was silence for a moment, Heracles lost in his own thoughts while Sadik glanced around the room. The masked boy scowled at Limatik for a moment, hatred clear on his expression, then he turned away, arms folded across his chest.

Heracles looked between the two, then frowned a little. "Is it true that his previous host was…"

Sadik gave a curt nod, glaring down at the table. "Poor kid never stood a chance. Bastard took him when he was just ten. He could have been a great Sensory too… He was sound, you know. Not like this Roderich kid, but one of those with the sense of hearing that can pick up things from miles and miles away…"

"I'm sorry," Heracles said quietly, biting his lip.

There was a shrug from across the table and Sadik leaned forward, gaze still hard. "Nothing you could've done about it. I didn't know till it was too late. I know I'm not the only one who has lost family to those monsters. Even if mine wasn't so immediate." For a moment he looked over at Parazita, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"We have to stop them before they take another…" Heracles sighed, rubbing his forehead. The future just had too many twists and turns to be certain. He didn't like any uncertainties.

"That's what you're doing, evet?" Sadik muttered. "Just, promise me something, okay? I get revenge on him." He jerked his head towards Limatik, green eyes hard as the rock that made up his element.

After just a brief moment of contemplation, Heracles nodded. "Of course. That is what is due to you."

There was a flash of teeth, then Sadik had brought Heracles' hand to his mouth and gently kissed the knuckles – surprising, as he was hardly ever gentle. "Thanks. Means a lot to me."

"I just wish I could get my own revenge," Heracles said quietly, looking down at the table. "Seeing what I can is useful, but it doesn't do anything for what I want."

Sadik laughed quietly, reaching over and ruffling the other's hair. "Don't worry, little kitten. I'll make sure she never takes another. And she'll wish she'd never taken your mother."

"Promise?"

There was another laugh, then the sound of chair legs scraping the ground and Sadik leaned over. He titled Heracles' face up, looking down into his eyes. "Promise," was all he said before he brought their lips together.

End: Chapter Eight

* * *

**I have had this chapter done for a week. Unfortunately, that week was incredibly busy and I didn't have time to edit... But here it is now!**

**In other news, my Word document for this is now 52 pages and nearly 25,000 words! And what else? We are halfway through! I don't know what I'm going to do when this is over. Hopefully it will involve finding muse for "And the World Comes Crashing Down" once more.**

**So, more pairings revealed and such. I am a bit of a romantic when it comes to this sort of thing, I admit. But I promise, there are reasons for everything!**

**And answering a questioned answered back in chapter six, I put Kiku as a Neuro because that is where I needed him most for the story. I hope that Sadik's power has been cleared up, and you will be meeting both Ivan and Matthew soon enough, so hopefully your question about the water elemental will be answered soon!**

**Until then, read and please review, comments keep me motivated and help me improve. Less than three~**


	10. Chapter 9

Start: Chapter Nine

I.

I was confused by Gilbert's behavior the following morning, from the time I woke up – suddenly in his bed, hadn't I left? – straight through breakfast and into what appeared to be a training time. When asked if they were going to test Ludwig, Arthur replied that everyone was tired of the testing and would rather work on their powers individually.

There were rooms behind the arena where any and all materials that might be needed were held. There were also rooms where people with more destructive powers could practice without the fear of harming others.

Of course, one of those rooms was where Gilbert ended up. Me too, despite Arthur's insistence that such rooms were meant to be used by only one person at a time. One could most definitely consider shooting fire out of your hands to be a dangerous power, and Gilbert was in a mood that even I did not want to interrupt. I sat on a small bench in the corner of the room, watching as he flung flame after flame at the wall, the dancing lights gleaming in his eyes.

He was muttering things too, things I wasn't sure what to make of. I thought that I could hear Sadik's name, spoken of in frustration. Confusing, I had to admit, because I could think of very little contact that Gilbert and Sadik had had, and certainly no reason to have such frustration. Heracles, yes, but the grinning masked boy? Hardly.

Every now and again he looked over at me, the fire burning in his eyes giving him a fiercely protective look. I had already promised him that morning that I would stay out of Heracles' plans as much as possible, so this was also confusing. If I was to stay out of things, why would he need to be so worried?

Eventually – I was surprised that he had not done so the instant we stepped into the room – he punched towards the camera with his hand, pushing one of the more spectacular flames I had seen him make towards the offending object. He stood, panting, in the middle of the room, sweaty, with his hair plastered to his face. His hands were balled into tight fists at his sides, eyes dancing around the room with a sort of crazed anger that honestly scared me. Gilbert was many things, but this I had not before seen.

I slowly rose to my feet and moved towards him, aware of his red eyes following my every move. Agitated. Chest heaving. Limbs twitching slightly as he held back from any more violence. For my benefit, I knew. He was afraid of accidentally hurting me now that I was not sitting still.

I had just reached Gilbert when the door opened. He was instantly in front of me, teeth bared in a feral gesture of canine protectiveness, hands clenched so tightly into fists I knew there would be horrible red marks there in a few hours.

There was a low chuckle came from the doorway. I peeked around Gilbert to see what appeared to be a sickly young man, leaning against the frame of the door, thumbs tucked into his pockets. The only think that did not appear like it was about to fall apart about the man were his eyes. Unwavering, brown. Focused directly on me.

"Call off your guard dog, will you, Roderich?" The man shoved away from the door with his shoulder and sidled into the room. "It would be very bad if he hurt me. He could get into a lot of trouble."

Gilbert moved his body to always keep the intruder in his sights, me behind him. The man shook his head and clucked his tongue in mock sympathy, and I balled my own fists. Was he trying to be burned into a crisp? People didn't just mock my half-brother. Even the norms knew better than that, simply looking at his fire-colored eyes.

"My apologies," the man went on. "I have not introduced myself. My name is Limatik. And you are Gilbert and Roderich. The new arrivals. The special ones." A grin split across his peeling face and I felt like gagging. He should be in a hospital. But instead he was moving ever closer.

A graying hand reached around Gilbert and touched my face. Gilbert's hands exploded in fire and his whole body trembled, forcing himself not to kill this man on the spot. I could see the rage in his eyes, my eyes could follow the lines of tensed muscles under his clothing.

Another chuckle and the hand was pulled away from me. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, ducking behind Gilbert and bunching my hands in the back of his shirt. The stench of decay was in my nose, toxic and putrid, giving me the strong urge to vomit.

"He needs to come with me," Limatik continued on. "Roderich has been chosen for something very… Special. Back down, little fire puppy. You're just making things difficult."

I watched as Gilbert's rage turned into panic, then back again. He shook his head. "You can't take him anywhere."

"I'm afraid a no isn't really an option." Limatik raised up his hand to regard his fingernails. I couldn't see why he would want to. His fingers were filthy, broken, discolored. I didn't want to know what had happened for them to get that way.

A pleading tone I was completely unfamiliar with entered Gilbert's voice. "Please… You can't take him. Anything but that."

Sharp brown eyes looked up, a shimmer of interest in them. Mistrust was all I could feel towards them and I tugged on the back of Gilbert's shirt, trying to get his attention away. But he was too focused on Limatik.

"Anything you say?" Limatik turned on his heel to fully face Gilbert, a smile on his face. "And you mean that… Most literally?"

Gilbert swallowed hard and I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard him say, "Anything."

II.

Gilbert lay on his bed and covered his ears against the pleading that echoed throughout the room. He was very much aware of Roderich pacing, every now and again going to the side of the bed to try and reason with him, then pacing again, talking on and on about how he didn't trust this Limatik character, begging Gilbert to reconsider, and eventually just falling silent and slumping against the wall, head in his hands, eyes closed.

Getting up then, Gilbert went over and sat next to Roderich, stretching out his legs in a lazy sort of way. He draped his arm over the other's shoulders and drew him closer, cheek falling onto brown hair. As he slowly felt the younger boy relax, he took a deep breath.

"You remember San Francisco, Roddy?"

He could feel a slow nod against his skin and smiled faintly. "Beautiful city. When it was all lit up the lights shone on the water. It was freezing cold but you would look up at those lights and feel warm. Feel like you were inside Grossvater's house with a fire going and cookies in the oven, and that old Mozart record spinning out its music all around that living room."

When Roderich didn't interrupt, Gilbert took that as encouragement to keep going. "Well, we found that old shack beneath the boat docks. You remember, right? It was definitely not Grossvater's house, but it kept the chill out and you and me, we snagged some wurst from the German street vender and cooked it with some cabbage we'd nicked from the produce market down the street. And we gathered around my fire and we sang songs and Ludwig was smiling and happy and you were too. I remember. You'd been all sick, and the fever was still in your cheeks, but you were smiling as if there was nothing to worry about in the whole world."

Gilbert slowly rubbed Roderich's shoulder, staring out across the room. "And Ludwig went to bed. He slept right by the fire and he snuggled up in that old wool blanket and he called out before he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, 'ich liebe dich bruder Gilbert und bruder Roderich'. And you stared over at him and you started crying. I couldn't see why. We were all having such a good time, then you had to go being sad."

"But I wasn't sad," Roderich murmured.

"No, you weren't," Gilbert allowed. "You told me later. Happy tears. It was the first time anyone but Grossvater had ever said that they loved you. And I was surprised. And I pulled you into my arms, kinda like we are right now, but you were on my lap and your face was pressed to my chest and I was rocking back and forth and shushing you and you just wouldn't stop crying."

Gilbert looked down at Roderich. "And you know what happened next? I said, 'I love you, kleinen bruder. I love you more than I should and more than any brother has ever loved another. And I'll protect you and I'll make sure that you are always happy like you were tonight. Because you deserve that. More than anything.' You looked up with that wide-eyed surprised look you make that brings out your eyes and makes everyone's hearts melt. And then I kissed you."

Leaning against the wall, Gilbert took to staring across the room again. "Now, I'm keeping on that promise. I'm protecting you. Like I couldn't when we were little and Vati chased you around the house and I wouldn't find you for hours, all bloody and crying. I'll never let you get hurt again, Roddy."

Roderich was quiet for a long moment, then he slipped his arms around Gilbert's waist, squeezing him to himself gently. "Gil… I know. But you can't do this. Heracles his our way out of this."

Gilbert closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. "If giving away a little information will make sure nothing happens to you, nothing can stop me."

There was silence in the room, then Roderich leaned over to kiss Gilbert's cheek. "I'll convince you otherwise. But for now, sleep. It's been a long day."

"It has," Gilbert murmured, thinking over everything he had been told. "It has…"

III.

In the holding cell, Heracles paced back and forth. His green eyes darted around wildly, then he kicked the wall with an exasperated yell before collapsing onto the ground. He closed his eyes, the timelines darting around in his mind. Fingers curled into his hair and he shook a little, frustration threatening to choke him. Thing's couldn't be falling apart already.

On the other side of the room, he could feel Sadik watching him with trepidation. He hadn't released any information about the latest stream of timelines that had left him paralyzed for several minutes. The Turk was worried. He could sense the worry. But he could also sense the acrid tang of pity. He didn't want it. He wouldn't have it.

The door opened and Heracles' head jerked towards it. He had been so focused on his other visions that he hadn't checked to see if someone was coming to the blasted door. Unfocused green eyes slowly picked out Parazita, looking down at him with a curled lower lip, one hand on the doorknob. She hadn't been happy when Heracles had asked to be able to work in a room where there were no Parasites around. He supposed she found that untrustworthy. Not that he cared. She was a despicable being.

"The water Elemental has fled Alaska," Parazita said, the words bringing despair to Heracles. No, this couldn't happen. He needed the fourth Elemental here. He needed him to complete the plan, to complete the escape. Time was running short.

He cast around to try and find the boy, eyes falling shut as he focused. They flew open again and he was up and pacing, across and back, across and back. "Seattle," Heracles said in his normal soft voice. "He is in Seattle. But you must hurry. If you do not get him now he will be in Mexico and in the neutrality zone before you know it."

He kept pacing, then whirled on Parazita when he found that she was still there. "Do you not know the meaning of hurry? Hurry! Get your creepers on it and find him!" He watched as the woman left, clearly annoyed at being told what to do. But Heracles didn't care. The fourth Elemental was the final piece to the puzzle.

Heracles collapsed against the wall again, mind spinning through all the possibilities. "This is going too fast…" he murmured. "My center Elemental is becoming just another pawn in their games." The pacing resumed.

Sadik looked up from the wall he was leaning against, mask casting a shadow across his lower face. "What do you mean?" Those words had been the first Heracles had offered since his Dreamer episode.

Whirling on Sadik, a sort of haunted fear had taken over Heracles' eyes. "The other side is closing in on us, Sadik. Someone I need to be a leader may be falling into a role that will only bring himself and his loved ones greater pain."

Pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. "I need the fourth pillar. We need to get out of here." He slammed his fist against the wall, agitated by the visions in his mind, agitated to a point that he never got to. "If we don't, then we are all as good as dead."

The room fell into silence and the lights shut off as curfew hit. There was the thud of Heracles' knees as he hit the ground and a quiet shushing as Sadik pulled him into his arms, coaxing him into the bed. Quiet kisses shared in the dark before night in the building, for perhaps the first time, was totally still, every person there asleep in their beds.

All except one. Limatik stood in front of the lit screen, using the remote to flick through electronic information file after electronic information file. The unnatural light made his face appear more sickly, more haunted. A raspy breath shook his body and he cleared his throat before settling down in an old leather chair.

Bony fingers clasped in the man's lap and he leaned back in the chair, brown eyes calculating. As he flipped through the files, a smile broke across his face. A raspy chuckle rang out in the room and brown hair was pushed off his face.

"They think they might win…" he said softly. "I'm just only getting started."

He flicked off the projector and the room was plunged into darkness.

End: Chapter Nine

**End: Section One**

* * *

**Well, well. This has been a while. What do I mean by a while? Over five months! Yeesh! My most sincere apologies to anyone who is still following this. School has been killing me. This was all done while I was home sick, over the past couple days. And yes, section one is over! I am intending this to be three sections, hopefully finishing up in the summer so we don't have a mess like before. **

**And all that wait for a shorter chapter! Again, I'm sorry. But, status update! 57 pages and 26,500+ words. **

**Answering some questions in the reviews... France has shown up, if you can remember back that far. He was in the cafeteria scene and is a touch sensory. And I can promise you, China will be joining us in section two. Keep an eye out. **

**So, please review? Reviews will get the next chapter out faster, I promise you. Every time I see a notification on this fic in my email, I want to work on it. And with school two weeks to finishing? With any luck, I will see you all soon.**

**Until next time... Less than three.**


	11. Chapter 10

Start: Chapter Ten

I.

Days passed slowly inside the holding center. There was little to do. An endless cycle of meals, practice, sit on your bed, tell stories inside the bathroom. An endless cycle of meetings with Heracles and hoping, praying that soon, we'd all be free. And that is all anything was. It was frustrating and dull and confining.

Days had turned into weeks and I had learned more about my fellow mutties. Arthur's family had the rare happening of not caring that he was a muttie, and they had bounced from country to state to state to keep him out of the hands of any of the creepers. He, of course, had been caught and had so far spent three years inside the same walls. The only constant was his own illusions, and he preferred their company to anyone else.

Elizabeta, the girl who was constantly in trouble and serving out food to everyone had been a late bloomer, showing her ability for speed when she was ten years old. It had allowed her to stay out of the creeper's grasp for two years, after leaving her house to keep her family out of harm's way. They had caught her while she was sleeping.

Alfred had been turned in by his parents when he was six and had spent the longest amount of time here, all of nine years. Despite his family's betrayal, he remained forever cheery, trying to help out everyone around him. Part of the reason for this seemed to be because of his twin brother, who had not come with him. Apparently, their parents couldn't find the other boy. Alfred often joked that you just couldn't see Matthew and I later discovered he meant that quite literally. Matthew spent much of his time invisible. It was no wonder the creepers hadn't found him.

Francis had come around the same time as Arthur and they had a sort of teasing rivalry that could only be described, on Francis' end, as flirting. He had a habit of using his skill of making people feel as if they had been touched for his own entertainment, and this should have made him unpopular. However, he was French and, to be honest, charming. He would tell no one anything of his past except that he had been born in France. I figured that it hadn't been all that wonderful.

The twins, Feliciano and Lovino, were direct mirrors of each other. When they first came into the room, it seemed like there was a tug of war battle going on with your emotions. It would only take a moment for them to balance out each other, but if one left, you were suddenly either inexplicably happy or angry. The only person who seemed immune to them was Antonio, whose mind formed a shield against powers that attacked the brain. This excluded mine.

There were plenty of other people there, from the Neuros who worked behind the scenes and, I grew to realize, knew so much more about what was going on than anyone but Heracles, to the siblings Vash and Lili who stayed by each other and spoke to hardly anyone else, to Natalya who told anyone that approached her that her brother would murder them in their sleep.

Despite everything I learned, Heracles and Sadik remained a mystery. And increasingly, Gilbert, who I had always known better than anyone else, did as well.

I couldn't pretend that I didn't know what he was doing when he left the room at night. It would happen once, maybe twice a week. He would drag me into his room, waving goodbye to Arthur, and make me sit and wait while he left. He was talking to Limatik, I was sure of it. And no matter how much I begged him to stop, he wouldn't. He said it was a matter of my safety.

Going alongside Gilbert's nighttime excursions, I could not shake the feeling that Heracles knew all about them. He would pull Gilbert aside and speak to him in that calm, almost sleepy way of his, every now and again frowning, shaking his head, continuing to speak. Every time Gilbert walked away in a huff, fingers curled into his palms and his arms shaking. He would brush me off when I tried to speak to him. Soon, this became common.

We were caught in time, suspended in the consistent schedule of our day to day lives. I watched friendships grow – especially that of Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. I watched people fall in and out of love – Alfred and Arthur were perpetually on again, off again. I became in tune to the inner workings of the other mutties, the way everyone learned how to position themselves just so that the cameras could not pick up on their relationships. Relationships were a necessary part of keeping sane when you were trapped in such a way. But they were dangerous.

Every now and again the creepers liked to grab a random muttie and use them for an example. Punishments were brutal and obviously meant to break whoever they were used against. If it was known that you were seeing someone, that knowledge was used to its greatest capacity.

Yet still, everything was calm. Nothing changed. No one new came in. No one new, that is, until eight weeks into my stay.

Everyone could hear Heracles' mutterings before meetings began. "He's parted ways with the Sensory…" "How could they lose him again?" "We are running out of time…" Strangely enough, he often looked at me when he was talking, frowning. The person he talked to about it all, however, was Natalya, an Enhanced agility muttie who most people avoided. They would talk about this mysterious "him". When asked, Heracles would just frown and tug at his hair lightly, green eyes filled with dreams. "The fourth pillar," he would mutter. "Water."

And all of a sudden, one day he was there. Rooming with Gilbert.

I was sitting on Gilbert's bed, letting him look over a scrape I had gotten from training that day against Arthur. He had figured out my fears and even though I knew everything he set against me was an illusion, I couldn't help but duck when a snake that could swallow me whole suddenly struck above my head. I had rubbed the skin raw on my arm and it had bled a little. Gilbert's instincts when it came to me were doubled – that of a protective older brother and lover. When I got hurt, it was best just to sit there and take the scrutiny, no matter how minor the injury.

We both looked up when the door opened. The creeper pushed in the tall boy, looking almost dwarfish compared to the height of the new muttie. The newcomer shook off his guard's hand irritably and looked over the room, dull purple eyes wandering. He rocked back on his heels, then reached back to close the door before wandering to the newly added spare bed. A smile spread across his face, not quite reaching his eyes.

"Privyet," he said, voice heavily accented. "I am Ivan. Names?"

I introduced myself, then frowned at Gilbert until he did the same. There was a flash of automatic dislike in his eyes, a slight curling of his lower lip. He crossed his arms, shifting so that he was slightly in front of me. "You're water." I suppose it might have been a question. It sounded more like a demand.

Ivan chuckled – a weird sort of laugh, like in the way that Gilbert's was weird except… Sinister. He nodded, smile broadening. "Da. And you are fire. Will be fun."

Gilbert scoffed, rolling over and laying down, glaring over at the wall and muttering something about not asking for a roommate. Slowly, I laid down beside him and rested my head on his chest.

That night I fell asleep listening to Gilbert's heartbeat and the chatter of Ivan talking about his home in Russia that he left as a young child and asking almost timid questions about his sister, Natalya.

It was just before I drifted off fully that I realized that this meant that Heracles' "fourth pillar" had arrived. Things would be happening now. And it scared me.

II.

If there was one thing that Gilbert did not want, it was a roommate. Especially a water Elemental. A creepy, Russian, water Elemental. That would not shut up when it was time for sleep and he was trying to cuddle his Roderich. That happened to be the brother that the equally creepy little Enhanced girl was always saying would come to kill them all. Honestly, he could see no upside to this scenario whatsoever.

What he could tell was that everyone else was interested in his roommate. Well. Limatik was more interested in what Heracles needed with the guy. No one really knew what that was, though. Gilbert didn't really care. He just needed to keep Roderich safe. That was it.

When silence finally took over the room, Gilbert slowly looked over at the other bed. Ivan was just frowning now, staring up at the ceiling. Odd, considering all the cheerful chatter that had been going on. Cheerful chatter after getting captured and put into what was practically a cell. Gilbert liked to think of himself as a bit of an optimist, usually – not that he had been given much reason to be – but even that was a bit strange.

After another moment filled by frowning, Gilbert sighed, fingers running through Roderich's hair. "Don't get used to me asking, but, what's wrong?"

Ivan blinked, then looked over at Gilbert, a smile quickly appearing again. "Oh, just remembering something strange. A dream. Saying that I had to be caught. It was… Necessary? Is that the word?" He shrugged, looking back up at the ceiling. "Didn't really want to. But when a dream from the netherworld is calling you to do so, you don't argue."

Gilbert paused, his petting of his brother's hair faltering for a moment. Slowly, he frowned, then got out of bed, making for the door. He hesitated, looking back at Roderich, before turning to fix Ivan with a glare.

"I've gotten stuck with you. But I don't like water. If so much as one hair is out of place on him when I get back, I will stick a flame up your ass."

Ivan laughed and waved his hand dismissively. "I am too tired now. Don't fear."

Another moment of mistrustful staring passed, then Gilbert was out of the room, walking down the hall and sneaking around till he stood in the bathroom, arms crossed, tapping his foot.

He didn't have to wait long before Heracles came, flanked by Sadik as always. Marching over to them, Gilbert stared down the Dreamer, red eyes narrowed. "You brought him here."

Heracles shrugged and nodded, going to sit down on the edge of a sink. "I did. I brought lots of people here. You, Ludwig, Antonio, Arthur, Francis, Elizabeta… They never would have caught any of you without my help."

"Tch…" Gilbert looked down at the ground, frowning. "You know, if I wasn't so pissed, I would tell you how unawesome that is. Well. I just did anyway. Nevermind." He looked back up at Heracles, eyes flashing. "In case you couldn't tell, I really don't like you right now."

"I don't think you ever did." Heracles smiled pleasantly over at Gilbert. "And you really aren't that angry. You just found out that I can tamper with other people's dreams. I'm a Dreamer. Dreams are my element. No, what you want is information. Information to help your misguided attempt to save Roderich's life."

Gilbert's eye twitched and he looked away. "You're wrong. And even if you were right, it isn't misguided. I've always looked out for my brother. That's what I'm doing."

"You are dealing with a Parasite." Getting off the sink, Heracles moved over to Gilbert. "Parasites dwell in the art of manipulation. They feed off the bodies that others used to inhabit. Many have lived for centuries by passing themselves from host to host to host. They kill off the person living inside the body's shell and keep the corpse functioning as it should for as long as they can, stuck in the point of life that the original person had died at. And when that body dies, they find another."

"As cool as that is, it's not true. That's impossible. It goes passed mutation. It's a fantasy story in our world of science fiction." Gilbert shook his head, staring at Heracles in front of him.

"I wish it was fantasy…" Heracles murmured, eyes growing faraway for a moment. He shook the vision off and fixed Gilbert with a stare. "You are dealing with Limatik. He is the oldest of the Parasites. His claim to fame is that he killed his own brother to take his first host. From this, he grew attached to having young, Sensory gifted bodies. He has said to you that if you go along with my plan, Roderich will not come out alive. The truth is that if you _don't_ help me, he will take Roderich's body for his own."

For a moment, Gilbert felt as if he couldn't breathe. He slowly shook his head, frowning. "That isn't possible. And really, the mental image is disgusting."

"It is. And it is all true. So either you are going to play nice with the water and help me get everyone out of here… Or everyone will stay stuck behind these walls and you will get to watch your lover be killed and taken over by a monster."

Gilbert stepped back, looking around at the other two. "You never gave anything straight…" he murmured. "I didn't realize that was because when you did, you were crazy."

Frowning, Heracles shook his head. "Please. Listen. You're the third pillar. You need to…"

"I don't care about your goddamn pillars!" Gilbert's eyes flashed and he put a shaking hand on the door. "I just care about my brother. And you say that you are trying to help everyone. But obviously you don't care about him!" He tore open the door and rushed back to his bedroom.

Keeping a safe distance from a certain sleeping Russian, Gilbert dove into his bed and pulled Roderich back into his arms. His red eyes smoldered and he curled his fingers into the other's shirt. "You're safe, Roddy…" he murmured. "That's all that matters."

III.

Outside the creeper's base, a boy sat. He didn't hide in the bushes or watch from a safe distance. No, he sat at the front entrance, hands folded on his lap, blinking behind rounded glasses. Every now and again creeper passed by him, coming off of their shifts. He found it odd to see them walking by in jeans and t-shirts, some male with close-cropped hair, some female with ponytails or braids.

He sat right by the door, watching all of the comings and goings. Nothing escaped his notice. But no one saw him.

After a while, he got to his feet and waited for the door to open. As one creeper left the building, he stepped inside, worrying his lip and running a hand through his blonde hair. He wandered over to where he knew the break room was, one of the few rooms without cameras, and made himself a cup of hot chocolate. When a creeper came in, he sat in the corner and sipped at the cup.

Still, no one saw him or the cup and he drank in peace, defrosting from the cold winter outside. He had been in worse weather, of course.

As he drank, he watched the clock. It was nearly midnight and most of the residents would be asleep. No one should bump into him when he wandered the halls.

At midnight exactly, he left the room. Walking down the halls, he peeked into several bedrooms, checking in on old friends and acquaintances. Eventually he made it to the men's restroom and, with a sigh, let himself relax. He winked into sight and glanced around, then shrugged and leaned against the wall.

Eventually Heracles came in to join him, a slight smile around his lips. "You did make it."

The boy rolled his shoulders and tapped his head. "You called."

"And you are always on time, Matthew…" Heracles glanced around, then sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Things are getting twisted. The timelines are almost unable to be saved. You've always been a wild card… Can I count on your help?"

Matthew looked down at his hands, then nodded. "I'm getting Al out of here, Heracles. We are all getting out of here. And we are going to fix this world that hates us so much."

"So, whatever I need you to do?" Heracles' voice was lightly probing, peering at Matthew as he spoke.

Looking up, the blonde smiled and nodded. "Will get done. It's good to see you out and about, so you know."

Laughing quietly, Heracles nodded, heading back for the door. "Oh, we've known each other for quite some time now, Matthew. You knew they couldn't keep me chained to a wall forever. Stick close."

Matthew inclined his head, winking out of sight again. "I always am," came the whispered response.

End: Chapter Ten

* * *

**Well. This took a bit longer than expected. But it is the longest chapter so far, I believe. And it introduces two more characters. Yay? But I'm ashamed to say that there is no chance of this being finished over the summer. I have so much planned out. I've got a lot in store for you, my dear readers, if you will stick with me. **

**Status update? My word document is now 63 pages and nearly 30,000 words. **

**Answering some questions in the reviews... Since I don't believe it will come up in the story, I will tell you that Limatik's host body is that of Egypt. For those asking about Ludwig - he will have a larger part, I promise. **

**So. Until next time... Less than three. Please review!**


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